From what I understand, communication is not only the process of
expressing oneself to another, but also the interpretation of the message which
the other person is trying to convey. If that is the case, I believe I am not a
very good communicator.
Perhaps my greatest strength in communicating is listening to and
analyzing what others have to say. This is especially important to me since
misinterpreting messages have a tendency to lead towards a lot of awkwardness
and frustration for both parties. However, this comes with a downside as I am
only able to focus my attention upon a handful of people at a time. As a result,
communicating with a large group of people seems like a chore that tires me out
quickly.
Normally when it comes to friendly conversations or even work-related
discussions with people I am familiar with, I adopt a very casual tone as I
prefer to engage in a laid-back and carefree exchange. I do not believe in taking
myself too seriously as it paints a personality similar to that of a beehive.
Personally, I find presentations being the most difficult task in
communication as stage fright often take over despite my best efforts in
preparation. Being enthusiastic towards the subject does help, but not by much
especially when it comes to go time. At times I may lose my train of thought midspeech
and everything crumbles down like a bad game of UNO Stacko.
To combat this problem, my only solution is to memorize each
spoken line word for word to make up for my lack of ability to improvise. Therefore,
I have always deemed presentations to be very artificial and manufactured as it
is literally a one-sided conversation.
At the completion of this course, I hope to overcome my fear of public
speaking as well as improve my overall command over the English language in
different conversation settings.
[Update]
Read and commented:
Cheng Wei
Rui Shuang
Leon
[Update]
Read and commented:
Cheng Wei
Rui Shuang
Leon
Hello, Chyi Yang. I feel it is good to listen and analyse the words and actions of others. I will say if you can to do that, it doesn’t make you a bad communicator at all. No matter how much a person learns another’s slang and way of speech, it is only natural as humans everyone does not think the same making it hard to really interpret the meaning of the other party.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it is hard to focus on the many when the many are talking all at once. If that’s the case, it might be good to ask them to repeat phrases that did not quite make the catch.
Presentations are indeed difficult, especially when one has to adopt a more formal tone. I guess the best thing to do is really just rehearse and in the voice of Rahul remember this line, “Sorry I’m nervous.” I guess that line is supposed to show the people you are really trying and that if possible, you want their support.
Udon~
Leon.
While I feel that it is good that you can be friendly and causal with people, I feel that you could still adopt a more serious tone when you need things to be done or else people will not take you seriously.
ReplyDeleteAlthough stage fright can be serious problem during presentations, I feel that being relax helps. Assume that the audience are your friends and use a more causal tone, just like how you would converse with your friends.
Hi Chyi Yang, I too have felt the same way about presentations. Although memorizing what you have to say will prevent yourself from being at a loss of words on stage, I also feel that this brings a form of rigidity to the presentation. I feel that rather than memorizing the entire script, perhaps memorizing several main points is an appropriate alternative. I hope that my input has been helpful and I wish you all the best on your communications journey.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Aaron Low
Hi Chyi Yang, I can totally relate to you in terms of presentation. For my case, before every presentation I would write down my points to talk. However, during the presentation itself, all the points I've practiced just disappear from my thoughts. Everything I did, was almost on prompt.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I admire you skill to analyze people's conversation and be able to respond accordingly. That is a skill that I still lack and am working to improve. Being a good listener and focusing you attention to the people around you, are good traits. With these traits, I am sure you can overcome your weaknesses with ease.
Overall, just being yourself is the key of separating yourself from the beehive mentality.
Peace,
MN Syarief