Project- Portfolio Draft
Terra Recek
04/23/12
COM321: Communication Theory
Lacey Miller
My motivation for studying communications is so that I can better myself by becoming a
better communicator. In the beginning of my journey to receive a bachelors degree I chose
something that was of interest to me, I love to talk and what better than a degree that allows me
to do so. I was not aware at that time, what communication was about. I assumed it was about the
act of talking, now imagine to my surprise when I entered my first communications class and I
realized that this program is much more than just talking, it is about learning the art of
persuading. Learning how rhetoric can be used to change the future by what we have learned in
the past.
Through these ideas, communication can allow me to open many doors in my own life,
personally and professionally. Understanding communications can also, allow me to carry myself
with more confidence knowing that when I am faced with a situation I will be better equipped to
handle it the way I have been taught to do so, through my studies. Communications in my
professional life will better allow me to move up in the ranks at any corporation. In any
professional setting there will be times where you will need to give a presentation, where you
will be asked to give a speech whether to 2 people or 1000. To be versed in the area of
communications makes a person more employable. No matter the field of interest
communications is needed, to speak to employees, to clients and to vendors.
Everyone is different and communication can affect people in different ways. Personal
constructs or beliefs about life and the world vary from person to person. With every new
relationship formed or every new person we come in contact with the view and beliefs of the
world are shaped and this ultimately effects how we will act, speak, think and live our lives. It is
the principle, the way I think, determines how I respond to the world around me - people, places
and things. Then the response of feedback you get in life conditions you to make more
"constructs" or ways of understanding and looking at the world around you. It is the rules of life
that you personally make up for yourself as you go along your way in life based on your
experiences in life.
I believe the best definition for communications would be definition number seven (7) in
our text Thinking Through Communication. As the book states communication is the
transmission of information, idea, emotions, skills, etc., by the use of symbols words, pictures,
figures, graphs, etc. In order to communicate you need to be able to use any means or way
possible. This definition mentions the use of symbols; it is important that this is included because
if you look at the statistics over 20 million Americans are affected with some form of deafness.
This select population is unable to speak with their voices so they speak with the use of their
hands, communicating without words.
Aristotle, saw great potential in one person addressing a group of people. He believed
thatcommunication is an art to be studied and that good speaker was not only persuasive, but
also ethical. He stated that all public presentations are some balance of three rhetorical proofs:
ethos (ethical), pathos (emotional), and logos (logical).
Baxter and Rawlins say that there are three dialectical forces that must be in balance for
the relationship to be successful. The dialectical forces are called expressive-protective,
autonomy-togetherness, and the novelty-predictability dialectics. Expressive-protective dialectic
involves a balance to share personal information and the need to a little privacy. Autonomytogetherness dialectic describes how interdependent they want to be with each other. There needs
to a balance of togetherness and being apart from each other.
Novelty-predictability dialectic is
how individuals interact with each other and they fall into patterns of behavior. After time these
behaviors become predictable and they spend most of their time repeating old routines. This
behavior can be positive and it be can negative.
When I first meet someone I am very shy and closed off because I am scared of what they
may think of me. As I get to know the person I then will start to open up and begin to let the
person in to know a little more about me and also I start to begin to care about them. As we
become good friends I really start to open up and invite them in to my everyday life and let them
with become more important to me. This is where I think dialectical force expressive-protective
comes into to play because you want to share some things a new person in your life but not
everything.
I do think it changes my relationship with a friend that you become intimate with you
even y though you are already are friends and know each other, you do become closer because
you are now having a physical relationship. People a lot of times feel the need to be together
but they must also be able to have time apart from each other to be able to have a full life. I feel
this is where Autonomy-togetherness dialectic comes into play because there needs to a balance
of togetherness and being apart from each other.
I preformed an experiment where I did not communicate with anyone for one hour that
taught me a lot about how communication is so important in a persons everyday life. I now
understand how non communication can really hurt a relationship. The people that really cared
about me were concerned that something was wrong and the others who did not pay any
attention to what was going on could have cared less. We must have some kind of
communication with the people around us because that is what makes us all human.
A personal construct is your personal way of looking at life, the world, and people around
you based upon your experiences. You "construct" or build your outlook based upon your
personal experiences in life and your reactions to them.
I did another exercise to help me better understand how people make judgment about people
when you first meet a person and how people are put into categories before you really get to
know the person for who they truly are. When I looked at 3 people plus myself to see what
categories that I would put them in it was mainly based on first appeases. I know that you cannot
judge someone by the way they look or the way they act when you first meet a person because
most often this is not who they are. I am guilty of doing this on occasions because of peoples
actions or just the way they are dressed or not dressed. You must overlook first impressions in
order to find out who the person is.
I dont think I judge people by their sex because I see men and women as equal. I dont feel
like women are any better or worse than a man. My feeling is people are people weather they are
man or woman we all need to be treated the same no matter their sex.
I dont try to judge myself differently than I do others because I dont believe anyone is better
or worse than anyone else. If anything I think that I am more critical on myself than others
because I know that some of the things that I sometimes do are not right and I say things that hurt
others. I know my behavior is not right and that I need to change it because it is hurting others.
I dont think anyones personal constructs can be fair. People are making judgments about
people by their first impressions of someone is not the best way to get to know someone. I
believe if more people would start to get to know the person that they meet rather than just
making an assumption about who they are or the way they look people would have a much better
understanding of the other person and even maybe of themselves.
I think first impressions of people do influence the way you talk to someone until you get to
know them. If the person is well dressed and seems like they have money people are more likely
to treat them with much more respect and understanding than if a person is wearing clothes that
are tattered and dirty. It is sad to say that appearance play such a big role in the world that we
live in. if people would stop judging people by first impressions we would have a much nicer
world to live in.