Communicating Differently With Other Cultures

Yes, I find myself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures. My communication with them would be on different levels because everyone do not communicate the same way. People express or show their communication through verbal and nonverbal skills and cues such as gestures, eye contact, facial expressions, blushing, body position, and tone of voice. I tend to communicate with my children and adolescents, colleagues, community members, co-workers family, friends, peers and etc. in a low language (slang) which is less formal when we are hanging out, but when it comes to a professional setting I try to communicate in a high language.

Based on what I have learned this week, the three strategies I could use to help me communicate more effectively with the people or groups that I have identified are: (1) Ask, (2) Listening,, and (3) The Platinum Rule. Ask, there is no better tool for effective communication. If something strikes you as funny or inappropriate, if you feel the other person is neglecting you or is offended, simply ask him what you can do to remedy the problem. Grievances are like silence- broken when they are spoken out. Listening can help your career, saves time and money, creates opportunities, and strengthens relationships. The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others and you have to understand what drives people and recognize your options for dealing with them.

Television Show

The Brady Brunch

A television show that I do not normally watch was The Brady Brunch. At the beginning of the show I can see that the boy and two girls was excited about something because they came running in the house with their books in their hands screaming and yelling at this woman (mother) to tell her something that had happened at school and then they started singing. Their mother was happy for them, but the other boy had come into the house sad and she went over to see what was wrong with him and that is when the other three children started teasing him and making faces, then he yelled at them and the mother said something and then they stopped. The boy was still moping in bed when his parents came in the room. His parents was trying to see what was wrong with him. He was pouting with his hand on his face and frowning when he was talking to his parents, then his parents said something good to him and he got up and run out the room. His mother brought him a drum set and he was anxious to tell his football team about the news. The football team teased him and walked off.

When I watched it with the sound on, my assumptions was totally wrong because I had the characters mixed up when it came to playing football. It was Bobby that the parents encouraged to play an instrument and Peter was the one being teased by the football team and he was in the Glee Club (choir). Bobby's parents were regretting to buy him the drum set because of all the noise and he was distracting everyone. The daddy came up with a solution to put Bobby and his drum set in the garage in which he called it the studio. Deacon solved the problem about the boys teasing Peter for being in the choir when he told them that he sings and is he a sissy. He said matter of fact he has a group on their team and they perform when they not playing football. Peter didn't quit the choir and Bobby quit the drums and moved on to another instrument in which he didn't know how to play. My assumptions would have been more correct if I had been watching a show that I know well.

This experience was frustrating because I am not good with reading lips when the sound is off. It was very easy to comprehend when the sound was on. I learned that reading lips is hard and hearing and seeing is what make sense when it comes to gesture. 

Communication

I thought about a professor that I took several course under when I was attending Community College. She was on the Yearbook Committee in which she took pictures for it. Also, she was very involved in other organizations as well. She was serious when it came time for her to teach. For example, if she told us we had to take a test on this particular day, trust me, you do not have to remind her because she wrote down what she had told us. Most teacher would had forgotten about the test or reschedule it for another day. As far as extra credit was considered, she did not give it because she gave us two chances to take a test and pass it. You could fail every test that she had given, but if you did your homework and attended class like you were suppose too, then you could still pass. What makes her effective is that she spoke with confident and she knew the information for her classes without evening having her notes. I would model my own communication behaviors after her because she is an organized person who is involved with the community and is always willing to help people.