Escaping Embarrassment - Essay Example

Escaping Embarrassment Fluency and techniques in communication is an important aspect that defines the perceived images of an individual. Consequently, as Lee Jooyoung’s Escaping Embarrassment: Face-Work in Rap Cipher explains, individuals will go for an extra mile to coin methods that facilitate saving face to create a favorable image in their audience. As Lee asserts, individuals will be ready to design and implement any technique that shows their mastery in communication to avoid any case of embarrassing situation resulting from gaffes in their communication.

Lee gives an example of free style rappers who dread any instance of stopping abruptly in their rapping, and have devised techniques through which they can prevent “falling off,” mostly by sharing a platform and taking turns to rap, which helps in saving face, and brings out a stronger personality in street music. This implies fluent communication directly affects the image of an individual to the audience. Sawyer (1) noted that casual conversation portray creativity as it is directionless and is not scripted.

With scripting, one has to remember each detail of the work to be communicated to ensure free flow of such information, however in causal communication the speaker is at liberty to include anything they feel comfortable and fluent in to ensure free flow of information to the audience. This contributes to creativity as individuals think out of the box to include materials that would keep the audience entertained, and portray eloquence in communicating. Moreover, such communication is naturally collaborative, meaning that it is uniquely creative as an individual discovers unexpected and valuable ideas from the audience, and from creative thinking, which make the audience entertained (Sawyer, 71).

Eloquence and creativity in communication bring about an image of a strong communicator. Goffman (3) asserts that expressions involve two distinct sign activities. The most important expression involves a range of actions that are symbolic, and which define the actor. These symbolic actions are what define the eloquence of the communicator and include the body language, confidence, and public addressing skills. The nonverbal, unintentional type of communication whether deliberately engineered or unintentional defines the image of the individual as an eloquent and experienced communicator (Goffman, 4), which amounts to define the image of the individual.

As Lee (307) asserts, people will derive numerous techniques to save face. However, if an individual is at risk of losing face, which would affect their image of mastery in communication, such an individual will employ tactics such as deliberately acting as if such shaking, stammering, or other actions that would otherwise be taken to signify “falling off” are part of a large plan to entertain the audience. This makes individuals to risk entering potentially embarrassing situations, but portray their creativity in such situations by making certain gaffes to be intentional in the larger scheme of communicating, which would entail involving others in their communication or the audience at large.

This amount to collaboration, which when used in creating conversations merge in creative and unprecedented new ideas that portray skills in communication, and brings out a positive image on personality. This is further elaborated as Sawyer (20) explains the need of not writing any script in one’s head, but to listen to the mind, such an approach amounts to a good improvisation in communication, and prevents any possible gaffes that would result as one forgets the written content. From the three texts, great communicators portray a great image to the audience due to their eloquence, mastery of subject, and techniques used to communicate, or entertain the audience.

Gaffes in such cases would be a discredit to the mystery of the communicator and h their communicant techniques. As the texts portray, great communicators do not script their communication budget ideas through natural creativity, which brings about new and unprecedented ideas, or will involve collaboration, which brings about new ideas and portrays skills in communication. Therefore, eloquence and fluency in communication is a direct reflection on the image of the individual as a weak or strong communicator.

Work CitedLee, Jooyoung. "Escaping Embarrassment: Face-­‐work in the Rap Cipher." Social Psychology Quarterly, 4: (2009), 306-324Sawyer, R. Keith. “Ch 1: Scripts and improvisations” in Creating Conversations: Improvisation in Everyday Discourse. (pp. 7 – 41). Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2001 Goffman Erving. Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1959.