Communication Reflective Journals Essay Example

Communication Reflective Journals

Communication Reflective Journals

A1: There are a variety of environmental cues that influence one’s expectation for communication. The three common environmental cues are time, place and event (McLean 2010, p.15). Time is one of the most important environmental cues that affect an individual’s expectation of communication. The time it takes for the one to send and provide feedback to the message sent influence how one will view the message. In this respect, the faster and promote the communication is, the more the communication or message delivered will be satisfactory (McLean 2010, p. 17). By contract, when the massage is delivered too late, this creates discontentment. It is for this reason that time management is important, both in verbal and non-verbal communication.

Event is the other environmental cue that influences expectation of communication. For example, during formal occasions like weddings or church service, quite greetings and silence are expected at some time while there comes a time when people are expected to dance and celebrate. Lastly, place is a critical environmental cue that affects expectation of communication. For instance, in a hospital setting, laughing loud or celebrating would not be expected because of the presence of the sick and those suffering from different kinds of health problems.

A2: In any communication setting, both the speaker and the audience have a responsibility for each other. The responsibility of the speaker to the audience include being organized, ensuring clarity, concise and punctual (McLean 2010, p. 65). At the same time, the speakers have a responsibility of ensuring that the message is tailored in a manner that suits the targeted audience. Additionally, the speaker has a responsibility to avoid stereotypes as this affects communication. Just as the speaker, the audience has certain responsibility to the speaker for effective communication to occur. The first most important responsibility of the audience is to the speaker is to demonstrate courtesy and respect. Courtesy and respect implies paying full attention and actively listening to what the speaker has to say without disrupting or engaging in sideshows when a speaker is delivering speech (McLean 2010, p. 66). Engaging in other issues such as surfing the phone only demonstrates to the speaker that he/she is not important and perhaps that his message is of no value. In other words, co-operation of both the speaker and the audience is necessary for effective communication to happen.

A6: Doublespeak is recognized as one of the major barriers to communication as it can result in misunderstanding or miscommunication. Doublespeak involves the use of words to hide or change meaning. Although doublespeak is seen as a barrier to effective communication, there are instances, where the use of doublespeak could be justified in communication. First, the use of doublespeak could be justified when communicating to the audience that understands the real meaning of the world to the extent that there use does not cause misunderstanding (McLean, 2010, p. 59). Second, doublespeak could be justified for use in situation, where the use of express words can cause annoyance or pain. For instance, the use of the world “expectant mother” instead of “pregnant” mother could be justified because using the word “pregnant” sounds rude and can cause annoyance (McLean, 2010, p. 60). Similarly, it can be justified for one to use the word, “gone to be with the lord” instead of “died” as the use of the word “died” sounds rude and less remorseful.

A7: Signposts are used in many speeches. In fact, it is not easy to find a speech written fully without engaging signposts. In President Donald Trump’s inaugural speech (https://news.grabien.com/making-full-transcript-trump-inaugural-address), there are a number of signposts. They include “Today’s ceremony, however,” “But for too many of our citizens,” and “Finally.” The signposts highlighted in President Trump’s inaugural speech above is help the audience follow the speech by keeping the audience informed about a change in topic. For instance, towards the end of the speech, Trump writes “finally” which tells the audience that the speech is approaching the end and that the point being addressed is the last important point in the speech.

A10: The field of psychology contributes to the concept of self-fulfilling prophesy by demonstrating the importance of encouraging others even when they are not performing up to standard. This is because self-fulfilling prophecy is a concept in which a person’s behavior ends up matching or mirroring the expectation of others. For instance, using school environment as an example, psychologists have observed that when a teacher offer words of encouragement to a student who is performing dismally, telling the student to keep up increasing effort, the student will end up performing well because of the encouragement from the teacher (McLean, 2010, p. 83). By contrast, when a teacher fails to give a struggling student enough attention or gives negative attention, the student would end up performing poorer in the end by mirroring the teacher’s negative attention. This way, psychology highlights the importance of keeping others positive regardless of the situation they are undergoing as this would be reflected later on in life.

A11  Perception refers to one’s ability to understand something through sense. Perception tends to expand one’s view of something. Perception expands view in the sense that it makes a person develop a critical though since perception creates a sense of suspense that makes a person try to find answers to what has been perceived (Means 2009, p. 62). For instance, when a teacher tells a student to see him/her, the perception developed by a student’s pertains to suspicion of what wrong the student might have does. In this regard, even before responding to the teacher, the student is most likely to try to look into the reasons why the teacher has called him/her and whether there could be a mistake that has been done. In this respect, it becomes clear that perception tends to expand our view. However, we cannot choose to perceive something because perception is a natural stimulus that no one has control over (McLean 2010, p.396).

A15: The intended audience has a huge influence on the choice of words and language used in a document. For example, when communicating to the external audience, such as customer, suppliers and investors, the speaker needs to write in simple to understand language and in a formal manner. On the other hand, when the target audience happens to be internal, such as employees, the speaker might use casual words and even organizational jargons in the document because such words are understood by the employees (McLean 2010, p. 141). Additionally, the choice of words use in a document might depend on the level of education and the profession of the audience being addressed. For instance, when addressing accountants as the audience, the speaker might decide to use terms, such as ‘liquidity position,’ ‘going concern,’ or gearing/leverage in a document without necessarily having to translate because accountants are familiar with such terms.

Li Ching Chong

Beijing, China

Dear Mr. Chong

We wish to bring to your attention that, for as little as CNY500, you can have your entire house clean and sparkling and free of bad odor associated with chemical cleaners. Our detergent is organically made and environment friendly and this ensures that your family is free from dangerous and allergic cleaning detergents that are out there in the market.

We wish to encourage you to try us and see the difference. We will give you a free sample and lots of gifts any time you buy our products in bulk.

Sincerely,

Sales Manager

In the above letter, the target audience is a Chinese customer. The message has been tailored to my perception of the audience as the price of the detergent has been quoted in Chinese Yuan so as to make it easy for the customer to know the prices charged. Additionally, because Chinese people prefer being given samples to taste and gifts (Dai & Chen 2014, p. 291). and these aspects of Chinese culture have been factored to lure them to our cleaning detergent.

A20: When preparing a speech, one of the most important factors a speaker should consider is background of the audience. This is particularly important when preparing a speech for a diverse audience comprising of people from different cultures and backgrounds. In this respect, the first most important thing for a speaker to do is consider the needs of its diverse audience, which might differ and tailor the message in such a manner that meets the needs of its diverse audience. Second, it is important for the speaker to ensure that the language used is that which the majority of the audience can understand (McLean 2010, p. 402). The speaker must also ensure that a translation is provided so as to ensure understanding by all the audience being addressed. Additionally, the speaker must ensure that the speech does not contain prejudice or discriminatory language that might offend a section of the audience.

A21: Rhetorical situation denotes the nature of the context in which the communicator creates appropriate rhetorical language. I believe that it is very critical for a person preparing a speech to consider the rhetorical situation. Taking rhetorical situation into account when developing a speech is important as it acts as a guide in planning how to use various strategies that would guide the audience as to how to interpret and perceive the information being passed across by the speaker. Additionally, considering rhetorical situation is important as it help the communicator come up with a speech that well-tailored to the needs and expectations of the listeners (McLean 2010, p. 461). In other words, rhetorical situation is an important factor in speech development as it enables the speaker to gain insight into how to tailor the message before presenting it to the audience.

A23: Organizing a presentation certainly involves ethics. Ethics refers to the set of values that have to do with wrong and wrong. In presentation, an individual can prepare an engaging presentation but still turns to be unethical (McLean 2010, p. 464). Organizing a presentation can raise ethical questions whenever there is no honesty in the presentation. Whenever organizing a presentation, it is important that honesty is maintained by ensuring that the information provided is credible and reliable to the audience.
Plagiarizing someone’s work in a presentation and using it as if it is your own is an example of unethical behaviors that manifests during organization and preparation of presentation. Additionally, using discriminatory terms in a presentation can create ethical questions.

References

Dai, X., & Chen, G. 2014, Intercultural communication competence: conceptualization and its development in cultural contexts and interactions. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Oxford.

McLean, S 2010, Business communication for success. Flat World Knowledge, L.L.C., London.

Means, T 2009, Business communication. Cengage Learning, London.