Blake Pearson

Dr. Stephen Haslam

COMM 1010

January 21, 2019

Myself as a Communicator Part 2

The first part of this assignment, I was able to understand how I see myself as a

communicator and learn how I articulate my needs and other views. For this second part, I had

the opportunity to interview three people from my life: my mom, older brother who has moved

out, and a missionary companion who I only served with for 3 months. Each I know well, and it

has been interesting to see each of their viewpoints on my communication, even if I only knew

them for a short time. These will be the reports that I will be sharing.

Articulating needs, opinions, views, or concerns

My mission companion1 said that I am good at communicating what I need and why I

need it. My companion said that he saw this in me when I would set goals personally and then

evaluating how I did. Being able to keep myself accountable not only to myself but to others and

expressing my needs or concerns on where it is that I want to be.

An interesting thing that my mom2 said, was that I rarely complain, and if I do express

any type of concern on a subject, that she knows that it is very important to me. She will take the

time to listen and understand my viewpoint or concern.

 My older brother3 said that I was quiet, however, at articulating my needs. He sees that I

am more introverted than extroverted and thus it is more difficult for me to share a lot or what

something means to me.

Listening

My companion and brother both said that I am a great listener and pay attention and can

relate to what others are saying. When listening, they say that it is easier to share my opinion, but

when I am not, I am just going along with what is happening. A way that I can improve,

according to my mission companion, is to ask more questions while listening so that I can clearly

understand where someone is coming from.

Agreeing with the above responses, my mom also believes that I am a good listener, but

can sometimes be daydreaming. She notices this when I seem to be listening, but nod and agree

to what is being said. An improvement I can make is commenting more in conversations.

Nonverbal Communication

Something that my mission companion said that I do well, is showing my interest in what

someone is saying by my body language and then responding to what a person has said. This

does not surprise me that he saw this in me, as we were always talking to people and trying to

connect with each individual person.

One thing that that brother and mom said that interested me, is that I bring a presence that

is peaceful and calm. Given, I am a laid-back guy, this was a little interesting. One insight that

my brother shared where I could improve, is sharing my opinion or belief before being asked to

share something.
Communication strengths

Some strengths that others noticed in me was my ability to be honest with others without

hurting feelings. My mission companion saw this more often than anyone else as we were

together all time.

Another interesting one that my older brother saw, is my quickness at responding to

someone. For example, he said that he sees this when we text each other. I, according to him,

respond to his texts faster than most other people. Because I am more introverted, I am a great

listener.

A strength that my mom sees in me is my ability to listen well and to ask questions when

wanting to learn about something that interests me. For example, when a new movie comes out

and I know nothing about it but am interested in it. When I am talking to someone about it that

knows more than me, is I ask questions to understand it better for when I do see the movie.

Communication weaknesses

Now, along with my body language, my companion said that sometimes, on rare

occasions, I would send a wrong message with my body language. Sometimes I would

misinform people by what I said, because of my body language; making it seem like I was

interested in a conversation but would say something that would hint that I am not and would be

checked out the whole time.

Another interesting thing that my brother said was, that because I was an introvert, it

would be harder for someone to start a conversation with me. He saw this as we went to high

school and I transferred to a brand new school as a sophomore where I did not know anyone and
would keep more to myself and the few people that I did know, than rather reaching out to new

people.

My mom believes that I can delve deeper into conversations by asking more questions.

She says that even though I am a guy, it can make a difference in how others see me and their

desire to want to speak with me. Especially when it comes to dating.

Having a conversation with me

As for having a conversation with me, my mission companion, older brother, and mom

all felt that it was easy to have a conversation with me, because I am laid-back and easy going.

Never have they felt pressure from speaking with me or stress and that I am very non-

threatening. My companion felt this way especially and that, because I am a good listener, that

comes with a good friend.

Summary

This assignment has been a little of an eye opener for me. The honesty of these various

people from my life has been interesting. All have seen a different side of me in different

circumstances; whether growing up with my brother and having him move out to a mission

companion whom I only knew for a short time but spent all my time with. I want to be better and

interacting more in a conversation. I feel that I am a good listener but can sometimes just nod

and go along with whatever is being said without becoming heavily involved in the conversation.

Everything that has been said by these people in my life, I fully agree with. I may not heavily

notice such aspects of my communication, but after writing these two papers and reflecting a lot,

I can see these things happening in my life. Expressing myself and showing full interest by my
body language and reacting to what someone is saying, are the goals that I want to work on now

and are things that I think will make a huge impact in my communication.

References

1. (A. Nelson, personal communication, January 21, 2019).

2. (L. Pearson, personal communication, January 21, 2019).

3. (B. Pearson, personal communication, January 20, 2019).