Using Communication Skills to Enact Change

I feel I am an effective communicator. I took the quiz in this Module’s learning resources and received a score of 26, which means I feel comfortable communicating in most situations. By using my communication skills I feel strongly that I could enact change where needed. Two communication skills I find important are the ability to be clear and complete about a topic. In the case of this course project the topic would be enacting change on a policy about implementing play-based curriculum into classrooms. Two additional skills that I find very important when communicating are always being aware of individual differences and agree to disagree with the audience. When presenting an idea or even an argument it is important to be clear and set a purpose for what you are going to say. In addition to setting a purpose people like to understand the goal for the message up front so I like to be forward with my intended goal in the beginning of the conversation. Making a message complete is really the most important step in the entire communication process. Giving the audience a “call to action” piece makes the message complete because it directly tells the audience what I want them to do. Making sure the audience has all the information needed to carry out their action plan such as contact information, names, dates, and locations of other meetings is vital also.

            My own strengths in communication skills come from my early college years. At the local four-year university I attend I was a campus tour guide for incoming freshman and their families. It was my job to spend one hour with them and get them to buy into the university and sign on to come there. I had to use persuasive communication skills in my role as a tour guide. I also spoke one weekend a month at the university’s open houses for families and incoming students. There were always between 250-400 people sitting in the audience and I would sit up on stage and answer questions that they had. Again my communication skills were very important in this role as well.

             In my current roles at my school where I teach now I lead many faculty meetings and event meetings. I am the yearbook advisor, the chair for the field day committee, and the chair for the Earth Day committee. In all of these roles I need effective communication skills. I always have opportunities for improvement in these roles and feel that I have tweaked my communication skills each year as these duties and events come about.

            Whether it is speaking to small groups at faculty meetings or large crowds at open houses I always enjoy communicating with other people. Though policy discussions and interactions with higher-level officials are not areas where I have had much experience I am always looking forward to taking on new speaking roles and communicating with interesting and passionate people.