An Effective Communicator

            As we all know and have also read in the text (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012), we all must communicate in one way or another-life depends upon it; although some of us are more skilled at it than others.  This week we were to choose and discuss an example of an effective communicator.  I have chosen a woman that I have known and worked with for over nine years.  She has been my trainer and even my director for a short period of time.  Her name is Chelley Correa.

            Some of the qualities that I feel make her an effective communicator are her abilities to speak at a level of understanding that fits the audience; she speaks in varying levels and puts energy into her words and actions.  She is able to keep the interest of her audience and gauge when she is starting to lose the attention of some and bring them back to the present situation either through verbal or nonverbal means.  She is completely at ease when speaking in front of a small audience or large.  She makes sure that she is prepared by being knowledgeable of the subject matter which she is speaking of and is able to translate her knowledge in a way that the audience will understand.  She involves her audience in the communication process, she is able and willing to listen as well as speak.

            I think if I could model any communication behaviors after her, I would choose the feeling of ease that she has when in front of an audience that has several people.  I am quite comfortable speaking in front of a few people, but still find it challenging to get up in front of a larger group and not feel nervous.  I hope that with the added knowledge from this course and with practice, I will reach a level of comfort in this area.

Reference

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication:  An introduction.New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.