To me, the key to communication is being a active listener to let people know that I’m paying attention. When I’m working in any type of group, I always try to be as open and honest as possible to encourage the same from others. In addition, good communication is knowing how to advocate my opinions when they need to be heard. I think that I’m good at maintaining communication when it comes to working on a team because I am good at staying on top of things. For instance, I effectively communicate in the L-TEAM group chat by providing weekly graphic reminders to come to L-TEAM. By communicating with the L-TEAMers consistently, it helps to maintain a regular attendance of members.
While I’m effective at communicating within a team, there’s room for improvement when it comes to presenting to a group. I tend to be very straightforward when I’m presenting, so I would like to learn how to be flexible so that I can better engage the crowd. I’ve learned a lot from watching people in LEAD present. When Nick presents, he is very considerate and likes to listen to many different opinions. Through watching him facilitate Active Leaders and Ethics and Leadership, I have gained good examples of how to be an effective and welcoming presenter. For instance, I’ve learned in Nick’s INTS class that it is sometimes a good idea for people in positions of power to take in everyone’s points of view before expressing their own opinions, because the opinions of the leader can influence the whole group and can stifle creativity or opposition.
Furthermore, I’ve also picked up a lot about the different communication styles from the LCs. For instance, Gilly, Alex, and Jazyerra present in a very fun and enthusiastic, which is great at pumping up the crowd and keeping them engaged. Their presentation style is very fun, which I find encourages people to be open and excited about participating in activities. On the other hand, there are also presenters like Gerry who is very grounded and knowledgeable about everything that he presents. Reflecting on all the great presentations that I’ve seen this year, I want to incorporate all these presentation styles into my own communication methods when I’m facilitating workshops.
Since I am so detail-oriented, I recognize that it is hard for me to pick up and implement new techniques unless I’ve been exposed to them beforehand and get a chance to practice them in a low-stress environment. One of my goals as an LC next year is to challenge myself to sign up for more workshops in order to develop my oral presentation skills. By doing this, I get to practice my facilitation skills and hone my public speaking.