Reflection

By now, you have acquired many interpersonal communication skills, some of which you may have already used in your interactions with others. You also have considered how you can use these skills to improve your professional, personal, and social lives. What if you could take your knowledge and skills and give others the benefit of your work by sharing the impact of interpersonal communication skills with them? What personal experiences and thoughts from this course would you offer to your colleagues? How could you help them understand the importance and effectiveness of practicing good interpersonal communication skills?

Questions about this assignment? Post them in the Contact the Instructor area on the left navigation bar. That way, everyone in the class will see, and benefit from, the Instructor's response.

To prepare for this Reflection:

Read the Speech Checklist document located in the Learning Resources.

Imagine that you are asked to give a speech to a group of fellow colleagues or co-workers about interpersonal communication. What are some interesting points about the importance of interpersonal communication that you would share?

Consider the impact of interpersonal communication quality, knowledge and skills. How would your audience benefit from improved interpersonal communication knowledge and skills? What interpersonal communication ideas would you suggest to your co-workers to ultimately improve their professional lives and create positive change?

Reflect on your own interpersonal communication skills. What observations, impacts, or personal improvements would you share with your audience to illustrate the power of interpersonal communication?

The assignment:

Compose a 2-page speech about how having a comprehensive understanding of interpersonal communication quality, knowledge, and skills can positively impact the quality of professional and personal life. Include the following sections in your speech:

The impact of interpersonal communication quality, knowledge, and skills

A personal reflection on your own interpersonal communication skills (observations, impacts, and personal improvements) 4-5 ideas for the improvement of interpersonal communication quality, knowledge, and skills within your professional setting in order to improve the quality of professional life or create positive change.

An explanation of how implementing your ideas for interpersonal communication improvement will positively impact your community, nation, and the world.

Cite references to your texts and this week's reading to support points in your speech.

Readings

Journal Articles or other print materials

Wheelwright, V. (2006, May). Personal Futuring: A Step-by-Step Guide.Futurist, 40(3), 22-29. Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession # 20356414. This article walks the reader through organizing personal information and ideas, and using that information to plan for different future scenarios. The purpose of this guide is to plan for realistic success in future stages of one's life. This resource will be used in this week's Discussion.

Palmer, P. (Fall 2001). To whom do you report?.Journal for Quality & Participation, 24(3), 19-20. Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article's Accession # 5744047. This article tells a short, yet powerful, story that illustrates the need to consider to whom you are ultimately responsible, and the difficulty of making decisions sometimes when the person to whom you report is different than the person who employs you. This resource will be used in this week's Discussion.

Jones, Jason. (2009)A Speech-Writing Checklist. (Word document) This checklist is a high-level overview of how to create an effective speech, and should only be used as a guide for creating a speech. This resource will be used in this week's Reflection.

What is in a good speech?

You can think of your speech for the Week 6 Reflection as a blend of a persuasive essay and a reflection. The speech is persuasive in that you are asking your audience to understand your views, and in this case, the views you are presenting are reflective. The speech is different from an essay because you can, and should, directly address your audience. The Internet is full of Web sites that can give you insight on improving your speech.

The fundamental parts of a speech are:

The introduction, where you get the attention of the listener and establish your credibility and authority on your topic.

The body, where you present your main points. Organize your points in a logical manner, and make sure each point is focused with supporting points.

The conclusion, where you remind the audience of your purpose, sum things up, and otherwise conclude in a convincing manner.

This checklist, adapted from COMM 1002, will help you perfect your speech:

The introduction gets the attention of the listener.

The introduction establishes your credibility.

The speech has a clear central idea or theme.

The speech has 2-3 main points that explain the idea.

The main points and ideas of the speech are easy to follow.

There are smooth transitions between sections of the speech.

The speech includes information from credible sources.

The key points of the speech are clearly summarized in the conclusion.

You end the speech with a compelling statement.

You remind the audience of the central idea in the conclusion.

Tip: Read your speech aloud before submitting it! You may be surprised at the areas of improvement you can recognize and revise after hearing your words spoken.