Management Communication Reflective Journal - Assignment Example

Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Management Communication Reflective Journal Part A A1: Environmental cues Mode of dressing: the way someone dresses decides whether the form of communication is open and casual or professional and formal. Formal dress can indicate professionalism or more formal than casual ware that can indicate that the communication is open and informal. Distance involved: people tend to have an intimate communication when they are physically to one another and this cannot be achieved when they separated by some distance like across the room. They can opt to wave or text in order to each other. Choice of text: the environment influences the selection of text to be used considering the characteristics of the audience to be spoken to. A speaker has to carefully consider the impact of environment in his or her speech (Hasling, 1998). A2: Responsibility of audience and speaker A communicator has a responsibility to the audience and has to prepare thoroughly for effective communication to take place. Effective communication entails, practice, preparation and persistence. The communicator has the responsibility of passing across the intended message without distortion. On the other hand, the audience has a responsibility to the communicator of receiving the message and providing feedback that will make the intended action to take place. Without the feedback from the audience, the communicator will not be sure that he has communicated the message effectively in order to achieve the intended action or response. The communicator and audience need each other. The audience is present because of the communicator while the communicator targets to pass across his message to the audience in the most effective way possible (Washburn, 2008). A6: Doublespeak Doublespeak is using words deliberately with the goal of obscuring, disguising or changing meaning. It is often applied in bureaucratic communication. It is justifiable to use doublespeak in order not to sound very offensive or harsh to the audience. For instance, using the term downsizing by the management to mean lay off appears to be more diplomatic than saying terminating or dismissal. The communicator assesses the impact of the message to the audience before deciding to use doublespeak. The use of the world collateral damage by the military to mean loss of civilian lives is intended to come out more polite than just saying civilians were killed. Using doublespeak hides the true meaning making it possible to pacify the emotions of the intended audience. Therefore, use of doublespeak is justifiable. A7: Signposts: Presentation by Steven Pinker on TED https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_language_and_thought#t-101314 Signposts have been used by Steven Pinker to draw the attention of the audience and make the presentation more appealing. Signposts in this presentation include: “Let me start off with…” Steven uses the signpost to draw the attention of the audience to the subject of his message. “For example, the date of construction…” this breaks the monotony of explanation and provides the audience with something to think about through providing an illustration. “Unfortunately there appear to be…” he contrasts one situation to another “There are a number of interesting conclusions...” he draws the attention of the audience to the important steps that have been achieved. “On the other hand...” he compares the situation of giving or not giving a bribe. “To sum up..” he draws the attention of the audience to his conclusion and finally thanks the audience (McLean, 2003). A10: self-fulfilling prophecy The field of psychology observes that positive and encouraging words have an impact of making someone to perform better. In self-fulfilling prophecy one feels he has the potential to do something if he is encouraged towards that path. Randomly selected students who were identified as having special potential were encouraged to perform well by teachers by applying encouraging words towards them. These students were not more gifted than the rest in class. If students are seek as lacking, teachers tend to use discouraging words hence making them underachieve because they start believing they are what is being said. As an individual one can improve if he seeks encouragement in speaking and writing, it encourages one’s performance. It is important to choose positive reinforcement as one seeks to develop communication skills. It is natural to make mistakes but one has to learn from these mistakes, correct and improve (Kostelnick & Roberts, 1998). Expectations are communicated through nonverbal and verbal cues. Individuals respond to cues by adapting their behavior to fit the expectations. A11: Process of Perception Expectations are important since they affect individuals’ perceptions. Perceptions also affect the audience. The audience has particular expectations about the speaker. The process of perception limit our view by making us to anticipate what the speaker is likely to say or the meaning of his message even before he starts speaking. Conventions are used to guide behavior as well as establish expectations. The audience has expectations that a speaker has to consider while remaining open-minded about the significance of the expectations. One has to achieve the goal of informing, persuading as well as motivating the audience. Process of perception expands our view by providing a roadmap of how best to meet the expectations of the audience (Wilde, 2003). On the other hand, the audience can successfully understand the intended message by the speaker. A15: choice of words and use of language The use of casual, formal and colloquial writing carry a specific set of expectations and depend on the target audience. External communication from an organization tends to be more formal as compared to text messages and email applied in daily writing in the organization. Style will depend on the goal of the document as well as its audience. For example, a topic on entitled ‘Family planning in the 21st century’ can be presented differently depending on the audience. When addressing villagers or members of a particular community in rural areas, one can use colloquial that the people within the community understand. However, the same topic in an international conference will need the use of formal language style in order to reach out to all attendants participating in the conference (Bailey, 2008). People who have participated in the conference can spread to their local communities using colloquial or casual language provided that the audience is familiar with the style. A16: sales letter for Caribbean customers Dear our esteemed customers, Re: New Product launching Hullo my people! This message is good news to our customers in the Caribbean. We are launching a new a cool and new communication gadget dubbed ‘My World’ with super-cool speed for browsing and communicating. It is a phone! This is timely news to the young generation who want things to move fast within a short time. We are spinning into a new level of digital communication and do not be left behind. This one of the newest brands among out sophisticated products that are meant to a peal to our customers who fancy sophisticated communication gadgets. Amazing speed, a variety of features that involve quick access to social media sites and portability is some of the attractive features in this type of phone. The price is affordable and tailored towards to middle income earners hence can be afforded by many people across the society. It is important to get the product before the stock runs out. A20: Preparing for a diverse audience A speaker has the responsibility of preparing a speech for a diverse audience. Diverse cultures project a variety of differences in customs, values and traditions and a good speaker has to learn about all these. The perception of people in the communication process is different from what we understand. What one values will greatly affect the speaker’s speech and perception of listeners. In the culture in North America emphasis is put on space with distance thought to be appropriate whereas shaking hands. This may not apply to other places in the world like Arabic countries where contact with women is vehemently prohibited. It is important to learn about other cultures in order to quickly adapt to new situations in new settings different to what we are used to. Geert Hofstede provided a framework towards national cultures that can be used as a starting point into understanding the perception of other cultures. Some cultures are collectivistic oriented while others are individualistic encouraging personal competition. A speaker has to know the choice of the words and perception of the audience when speaking to people from a different culture. A21: Considering Rhetorical situation It is very essential to consider the rhetorical situation in order to aptly deliver the message to the target audience. A speaker can lose the interest of the audience if he does not consider the rhetoric situation. A speaker has to meet the expectations of the audience. Without the presence of the audience to listen and then respond to the speaker, it would not be termed as a speech. The audience provides the time and space for the speaker to play his role and meet their expectations. During the time of the speech one has to relate to the natural patterns of the behavior of people. When giving a speech after lunch the audience can be drowsy and call for the speaker to engage them through questions in order to keep them awake (McLean, 2003). Relating the speech to current events is important in arousing the interest of the audience. Considering the rhetoric situation is crucial to every speaker in order to capture the interest of the audience. A23: Ethics in Presentation Organizing a presentation has to involve ethics and it is very vital. The speaker has to consider everything that he is aiding him in the presentation. Use of photos or pictures has to be carefully selected to avoid distracting the audience to other issues that were not part of the message. Cognitive strategy involves question the relevance of everything in the presentation in order for you to be effective as much as possible. The speaker has to clarify information to avoid being misinterpreted by the intended audience. A speaker has to be credible in order to build trust with his audience. The message has to be believable. It is important to acknowledge the source of your information through references in order to increase believability. Failing to acknowledge the use of other people’ work is unethical and unlawful (Kostelnick & Roberts, 1998). Without considering ethics the speaker can come out as a fraud who regards the audience as clueless and naive. Ethics are important in organizing a presentation. A24: Five structural elements President Barrack Obama Farewell speech in Chicago: Attention statement The former US President begins his speech with an attention statement, “It is good to be home”. He thanks the audience for their love and warm-wishes in the attention statement. He makes the audience to be alert and wait anxiously for the message of his speech. The appreciating the audience helps Obama to build on to his next agenda. Introduction In the introduction Obama takes the audience back to his early days in Chicago and the struggle of self-identity that he had to go through. He recalls how those days made him realize the power of faith as well as the quiet dignity of working people in the wake of loss and struggle. He ends the introduction by mentioning the gift of the Founders gave to Americans. Body The body of the speech starts where he says that, “Fir 240 years, our nation’s call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation”. It is a farewell speech and he goes on to talk about the eight years he was the Present of the USA but outlining the achievements of his government like mending relationship with Cuba, eliminating Osama Bin Laden, health insurance, marriage equality through the Supreme court ruling, among others. He also talks about the state of democracy and the various threats that it faces. He talks about the racial issue in America. He talks about the threat of climate change and destroying ISIL. Conclusion He concludes by thanking everyone who supported his presidency from the audience, his wife, Michelle, kids, members of staff and his vice president, Biden. He thanks every else who made his as president to achieve all the success. Residual message The residual message starts from where he says, “My fellow Americans, it has been the honor of my life to serve you”. He promises to be an active citizen who will not stop working for the American people. He asks people to believe in their ability to bring change (Bailey, 2008). References Bailey, E. P. (2008). Plain English at work: A guide to business writing and speaking. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Hasling, J. (1998). Audience, message, speaker. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. Kostelnick, C., & Roberts, D. (1998). Designing visual language: Strategies for professional communicators. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. McLean, S. (2003). The basics of speech communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Washburn, S. (2008, February). The miscommunication gap. ESI Horizons, 9(2). Wilde, J., Jr. (2003). You all spoken here: Southern talk at its down-home best. Athens: University of Georgia Press. Read More