CLC 12 Exploring and Understanding Communication

Avery Longhurst

1.) What do you acknowledge are your strengths when it comes to communication?
When I’m communicating with people I think some of my strengths are making eye contact and
being able to keep the conversation going by asking questions and giving valid responses.
When I’m talking to someone I always try to ask questions about what they are talking about
because it’s something I appreciate when I’m engaged in a conversation with someone. I’m not
a very shy person so I always make eye contact when I’m speaking to someone I think it shows
that I’m engaged and listening to what the person has to say.
2.) What challenges you when you communicate with others?
Something that challenges me when I’m communicating with others would be getting my point
across clearly. Sometimes I struggle with giving a clear description of what I’m talking about or
what I’m trying to say and it can confuse the person I’m talking to. I only really struggle with this
when I’m trying to tell a story, I try to condense what I’m trying to say and it just ends up
sounding really jumbled and weird.
3.) What characteristics do you notice/appreciate in others when they communicate
with you?
I appreciate it when others take an interest in what I’m talking about by asking questions and
agreeing or disagreeing with the things I’m saying. I think it shows how much that person is
paying attention to what I have to say because they can ask questions or comment about the
things related to my topic. I also really appreciate it when the person I’m talking to makes eye
contact with me, it makes me feel like they’re engaged and listening to what I’m saying.
4.) What characteristics do you notice/not appreciate in others when they
communicate with you?
I don’t appreciate it when I’m talking to someone and their mind is somewhere else, or if I ask
them a question and they don’t even bother to answer, that shows me that they weren’t listening
in the first place. I also really dislike it when I’m talking to someone and they interrupt me and
say something that was not even related to what I was saying, it's very frustrating and it makes
me feel like that person doesn’t care about what I’m trying to say.
5.) What is your relationship with technology and communication? Does it help or
hinder you? How so?
I think that I have a good relationship between technology and communication. I use my
technology to communicate with my friends and make plans. I don’t think I use technology in a
bad way because I would rather hang out with my friends in person than talking to them through
a screen.
One of the downsides would have to be the emotion in communicating through
technology. When you’re texting someone online you can’t read their facial expressions or hear
the tone in their voice, so that can leave a lot of room for misinterpretation and
miscommunication. I know that this has definitely happened to me before because I start to
overthink someone’s reply and I start creating problems that aren’t there.
 6.) Is it possible for a person to change the way he/she communicates?
I think it is possible to change the way someone communicates, it might be difficult and take a
while to break all of their old habits but I think that it can be done for sure. Sometimes I catch
myself interrupting someone, but I know that I really don’t like it when other people interrupt me
so I stop myself and let the other person continue (I always think of the saying, treat others the
way you want to be treated). As long as you’re trying your best to correct the things you don’t
like about your communication skills that’s all you can do!