Final Draft of First Post

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog! In this blog I hope to share with you some of the ideas which I have, and also hope to hear from you about yourself. Let us all enjoy our interactions together as we go through our Communications Module  150 in DigiPen Institute of Singapore.

Hi guys, I am Wee Zhen Yang. Today I am going to touch on the topic communication.

What is Communication?

Communication is a basic form of relating with others and expressing one’s views and opinions. In the interpersonal domain, effective communications must consist of carefully spoken words and one must be very conscious of one’s own nonverbal gestures, eye contact, facial expressions and body language.

 My Strengths in Communication

One of my strengths in communication is being able to read between the lines of what people say when they are talking to each other. I can sense emotions hidden within their words, be it negative or positive. Knowing this, I would try to empathetically convey what I feel to them so as not to offend them or cause any conflict between myself and others. I also have good presentation skills. For example, I always establish eye contact when presenting to an audiences to show my interest in them, using an enthusiastic voice to liven the mood. I also prompt the audiences with thought provoking questions which makes them think of different alternatives and scenarios which could happen. The application of this strategy of audience-centred communication where a presenter activates prior schemata by engaging audiences to provide answers on what they already know. Audiences who feel valued for their past experiences will pay more attention to what is being presented

My Weakness in Communication

Despite knowing how to present effectively, I have some issues in communications which include interacting in social settings. This difficulty arises from a combination of factors. Firstly, I lack confidence in myself, where I worry over what others think of what I say and how I portray myself in social settings. These difficulties arise when I meet and interact with diverse types of people who have other ways of communicating that are different from my own. I find alpha males or dominant people intimidating. They are usually the type of people who are very single minded where they only accept their way of doing things. For example, during one of my lectures, I was in a group with two dominant guys. When I was confused and asked certain questions or raised an idea, it was not looked at favourably nor was the question replied to at all. There was always a power struggle as it was usually the popular people who were more dominant where their views are accepted while the view of others are brushed aside. Worse, some use the ideas which were thought of by other people, but some people claim it for themselves, which is demeaning. Domineering people tend to put other people down to feel and appear superior. Hence, I have difficulty accepting them.

My Goals for the Module

What I hope to take away from Communications and Interpersonal Work Communications is how to handle difficult situations better. Examples of such situations include group work with members who are stubborn and refuse to listen to others, or people with a huge ego who think they know everything. I would like to handle difficult people and not let them affect me emotionally as some of their behaviour might be very draining for me on a day-to-day basis. This allows me to sustain a healthy relationship when there are group projects to do together.