Reflection Post #2 [Revised]

An interaction that I wish to share is a scene that took place during the recent holidays in a computer cybercafé. I was playing a computer game with my four other friends. As the objective of the game was to work together to destroy an enemy base, cooperation between my friends was quite important.

The use of active listening was when before the level started, my friend who was a much more experienced player, was giving out instructions on how to eliminate the enemy forces. I usually address him as the leader due to being highly skilled. My other 2 friends were listening and acknowledging him. The tone of the voices also showed interest when they provided feedback after he completed his briefing. This indicates that the whole group was quite actively engaged. However, I also noticed that one of my friends who was a female, was sitting awkwardly at times and was looking slightly confused.  She was not speaking out much and prefer to just nod whenever instructions were given out. I feel that she might have been nervous and she could also feel left out due to different skill levels. I conclude that this might be due to the expectations that girls are usually told not to play computer games.

Some forms of non-verbal skills were used, like turning their chairs towards the leader and their facial reaction being quite serious while giving constructive feedback. After having the briefing, we started the game and there were quite a few moments where some of us were shouting in a heated exchange and there were a lot of gestures to portray different action for example when a game character dies, a friend would shrug loudly and cover his face. One of my friends who was a female didn’t show much hand gestures as much the other guys did. She would also congratulate the other guys by patting on their backs when the game is completed. I conclude that this might be due to gender difference and that she uses touch gestures to express her emotions.

In conclusion, all five of us have shown different ways of using active listening skills and non-verbal behavior to express ourselves. I believe that with the consistent display of such observation skills would help me reflect on how to overcome certain weaknesses so that I can excel in a schooling or working environment.

Reflection Post #1 [Revised]

Communication is when a person sends a message to a recipient and the recipient understands the message being put through and would be able to give feedback on the message. I feel that my strength in communication is having the ability to communicate to strangers and send a message to my recipient without them being confused. I usually give some simple explanation regarding the topic and maybe some gestures that allows them to clear any doubts. Additionally, I would also prefer having a verbal communication as it is much more intimate with the other party. In contrast to using written communication, I seldom feel that the way I pen out my thoughts would not be similar to what I have in mind.

The challenges faced when communicating others is when other people do not fully understand what I am trying to say. Some of them have different ways of interpreting my message. A way to reduce this confusion is to address the issue individually to the people who would still be unsure of the point I am trying to get through. For example, in a project that I recently had completed, I would brief my group mates of my idea of making a tank. Some of my group mates may have different ideas of how the tank is being made. This is where I would clarify with each of my group mates on how my vision of the process will be so everyone is on the same page. I feel that this step is important to prevent a misunderstanding during further stages of the process as some parts of the tank can only be constructed once.

For the 2 objectives, firstly, I hope that the class materials will help me to further improve my interpersonal communication skills. During the recent lesson, I learnt that different people have different personalities and each one of them have different ways to approach. I could try to apply different types of approaches for people based on the advice given by the website to do the personality test. Lastly, I also hope that I can be a better presenter as I would tend to mess up some ideas that I would have rehearsed before the presentation. With the upcoming presentation as the assignment, I would have an opportunity improve myself to be a more confident speaker.