Communication Competence

Notoriously, I am never been one to shy away from communication. It does not matter whether it is an unfamiliar face or a longtime acquaintance. In any given situation, I am always eager to share my ideas, my opinions, my views, and jokes with everyone around me. Occasionally my eagerness hits me way too hard and I find my words jumbled and making little sense, but I just take a deep breath and try again. My friends always describe me as animated when I talk, especially considering that I love to talk with my hands. Whenever I communicate, my body moves along with the words I say and it is nearly impossible for me to be still. Other than the interactions I have daily with others, I have little professional public speaking experience. Many of

Dementia is a progressive, degenerative and largely irreversible clinical syndrome characterised by a widespread cognitive decline and decreased capacity for independent living (NICE, 2014; Prince et al., 2013). A major component of the syndrome as it progresses is a loss of communication skills, which can lead to patients encountering difficulties being understood and in understanding what exactly is being said to them (Watson et al., 2012; Downs and Collins, 2015). As highlighted by the most recent National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2014) guidelines, the utilisation of communication skills when working with people who have dementia is vitally important, and should include both verbal and non-verbal forms of communication, the tone of which should be tailored to an individual’s ability. During my first semester on the MSc Physiotherapy (pre-registration) course at Teesside University I had the opportunity to spend two days in a care home setting communicating and interacting with residents who had a wide range of illnesses presenting with communication difficulties, including dementia. As well as reflecting on some of these interactions using the Driscoll (2007) model of reflection, this essay will also focus on the contribution of physiotherapists to the health and well-being of dementia sufferers, and the importance of integrating and applying professional values when dealing with such a vulnerable client group.

At certain times one must adopt their style of communication to meet individual needs and use various aids to help them embrace their communication.

Many people are not aware of the communication skills that they lack, most will argue that they have perfect communication skills. Taking interpersonal communication has taught me that my skills are very poor. I walked in thinking there was nothing I can learn about communication and realized that I know little to nothing about communication. Since starting this class I’ve narrowed the skills I need to work on to the following four which includes listening, being more supportive and active, understanding, and improving my self concept. Although all four of these skills are something I can improve I think listening is my main problem.

I’m sensitive to contexts of communication. I recognize that changes in physical, cultural, social– psychological, and temporal contexts will alter meaning.

You are aware that there are a number of factors that influence the care that is being

I have learned that communication competency is the ability to be both effective and appropriate. This is a good reminder to be conscious of how you go about discussing certain things. After reading section 1.3 I realized I communicate with too much appropriateness that I don’t always get what I hope to achieve out of some conversations. With this, I think the most important characteristic of a competent communicator is the ability to perform skillfully. This would also be the one characteristic I could use improvements on because I choose the appropriate way to communicate, but don’t always perform the behavior effectively. Those who can both communicate effectively and appropriately fit the definition of a competent communicator. My question

Upon my completion of taking the "The Competence Communicator" assessment "Do You Smell Something Burn? Assessing Your Burnout Risk", I discovered that my was between a 31-50 resulting that I am at moderate burnout risk. At this point in my career, I would agree with the results due to there has been a lot of aspects at my job that has caused a negative effect on employees leading to temporarily stressful aspects to my job. I have recognized I am not the only one to feel these symptoms of burnout but also some of my close colleagues are as well. I have seen an decrease in team morale and job performance due to aggravated work stressors. Solutions, that I have recently taken on to prevent workplace burnout reevaluate why I do what and rediscovering

Although the topic of communications is broad, there are very few, if any, job situations where you will never have to work with or communicate with others. The McGraw-Hill assessment shows that I have moderate communication competence with a score of 68% (2017). Improving in this area would require me to remain vigilant in how I manage my verbal and nonverbal gestures such as tone, touch, facial expressions, eye contact and active listening (Kinicki, 2016, pp. 299-301). From an organizational standpoint, I may benefit from embodying a storytelling approach, thoughtfully sharing details and information in a systematic, fluid, approachable, presentable and engaging way (Kinicki, 2016, pp.

“Communication—the human connection—is the key to personal and career success.” I have developed effective communication skills through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. I have developed the ability to lead and work with a team to develop critical thinking, problem solving, and innovation skills.

I have completed the communication competencies survey, and I was compelled to say that it was a little difficult for me not to mark all of the answers with the highest score. I have looked over the survey, and I would like to determine and develop strategies to help me become a better team member. As I am attending school to earn an accounting degree, I am almost certain that sometimes there will be meetings or even public speaking that I will have to participate in. As a team member, I have to work harder to reduce my nervousness when speaking in a discussion or meeting. There are ways that I can improve my competency by being better prepared, know my materials, and practice. I also know that I need to get a good night rest, arrive early,

This commentary will provide a reflection of the author’s key skill competencies, particularly focusing on communication, teamwork, problem-solving, interpersonal skill. A summary of these keys skills will outline the author’s key strengths and areas for future improvement relative to either current weaknesses and or challenges.

Having a strong interpersonal communication competence is a very valuable asset to have when interacting in one’s everyday life. Without a strong competence, one would expect to have trouble adapting to others, managing conversations, being involved in conversations, being empathetic towards others, being effective when conversing, and even being appropriate during interpersonal communication; therefore, as previously stated, it is a necessity to have strong interpersonal communication competence skills. I would say that my competence in interpersonal communication is very strong as I am able to be conversationally involved and appropriate. Overall, I am a great communicator; however, I could use improvement in my effectiveness, adaptability,

I do need to be aware that I will need to adapt the way I communicate with different audiences because different people all require me to connect with them in a variety of different styles, i.e. adult-adult, child-child, adult-child. By using effective communication I am able to help clear up conflicts, build harmony and overcome any communication gaps which, themselves can create conflict amongst people.

I’m sensitive to contexts of communication. I recognize that changes in physical, cultural, social– psychological and temporal contexts will alter meaning.