Communication Evaluations

     

For this assignment I choose my husband of 27 years and a colleague that I have know just over three years to evaluate my communication skills.   What I found interesting was the lack of variation from my personal and professional life in each of the evaluations.  However, my evaluators scored my Communication Anxiety Inventory as low, which I scored it as mild.  My husband said I look comfortable when I communicate in any situation.  My co-worker said a similar thing, “You’re the go to person when we need some to speak for the center, and you do it well.”  

      The truth is I get a bit anxious when I need to speak to a group of any size, especially large groups.   What worked really well for me in the past was my astigmatism, that’s right I wore glasses.   When I took them off I could only see the notes that I was speaking from and none of the audience.  This worked great until I had Lasik surgery.  I broke into a sweat the first time I spoke to a group with my corrected vision.

        I was pleased to learn that both my husband and colleague placed me in the moderate range for Verbal Aggressiveness.  I too like to think I strike a good balance but I sometimes worry that I back away to avoid confrontation.  All and all I agree with their assessment, I am people orientated, can value others opinions without losing my own and apparently look really confident when communicating.  And that confidence is in spite of the fact that I can now SEE the audience.