Effective Business Communication: Diagnosis, Reflection, and Literature Review

This reflective essay focuses on the analysis of communication skills based on five diagnostic tools. It highlights the two major issues in communication style and includes a literature review on communication concepts and theories. The essay presents an action plan to overcome communication apprehension and improve public speaking skills.

Effective Business Communication

Running Head: Essay
Introduction: This reflective writing is an essay written after carrying out the analysis of my
communication skills on the basis of five communication diagnostic tools included in this
writing. This includes a focus on the two major issues in my communication style which have
been drawn on the basis of the results obtained from the various diagnostic tools. The two
major issues that I noticed in my communication style are the absence of confidence in my
public speaking skills and the low tolerance possessed my me for any disagreement
happening during the communication. This essay also includes a literature review which
focuses on the various concepts and theories of communication and the major communication
issues highlighted in them. By carrying out this reflection on my communication skills, I wish
to gain the knowledge and understanding of the actions that I can take and the habits that I
need to develop to overcome them. All these actions are included hindi action plan presented
in the essay which is followed by the literature review (Duffy & Gordon, 2004).
Diagnosis and reflection: The five diagnostic tools used by me for analysing my
communication style in various situations where I was the path of conversation form the basis
of this self reflective essay. The first tool that I used to analyse my communication style was
a self-perceived competence questionnaire. This question is an indicator of the
communication competence of a person by providing them with the number of situations and
an array of receivers. The person answering the question has to analyze their competence for
communication by choosing appropriate answer for the question included in it. The second
tool for the analysis of communication competence was a personal report. I prepared a
detailed report analysing my communication apprehension and understanding the feelings
that I have towards communication and conversations that I have (Benson, 2014). This is
done by asking another individual to carry out the analysis of my communication through
various situations and how they would behave in the same situation. The third tool adopted
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Running Head: Essay
by me was an analysis of the anxiety that are faced during public speaking. This was another
personal report which assesses the level of anxiety faced by me during any public speaking
events. And the fifth tool to analyse my communication competence was the tool that
measured my tolerance level for any disagreement. This tool measures my tolerance for any
disagreement or conflicting ideas presented buy another person during a conversation against
the idea that I believe to be true (Braga & Silva, 2010).
I believe that all the results that I obtained from this diagnostic tools what accurate since I
answer all the questions sincerely and with complete honesty. These tools help me in
recognising my communication style and understanding my strengths and weaknesses better.
The self-perceived communication competence questionnaire indicated that I have the most
comfortable conversations with my friends and when I am talking to a person individually. It
indicated that I face a little discomfort during public speaking and when converting in large
groups or during meetings. I believe that this was an accurate representation of my
communication style. The second tool of communication apprehension was the report that
further verified my apprehension towards public speaking. Although the overall score that I
achieved in this report was good, the apprehension during public speaking as reported by this
Diagnostic tool was quite apparent. According to the score received in this personal report, I
have a moderate level of apprehension during communication (Kalra, 2016). The public
speaking anxiety faced by me became even more prominent with the third diagnostic tool
analyzing the public speaking anxiety. This tool reported moderate anxiety when giving
presentations or speaking in meetings which is similar to the scores received through the
previous reports and diagnostic tools. My anxiety score for public speaking was 115 which is
fairly high considering I believe my communication skills to be good. The next Diagnostic
tool analyzed my willingness to listen and I got a score of 75 in this test. This indicates that
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my willingness to listen is also moderate. The last Diagnostic tool analysing my tolerance for
disagreements also placed me at a moderate scale and I got a score of 45 in this (Rider,
Hinrichs, & Lown, 2006).
All these scores highlight that I get anxious during public speaking and my tolerance level for
this agreement also needs to improve. These are the two areas that I believe I lack in not just
because of the results obtained through the Diagnostic tools but also through my personal
reflection on my communication style. I am not very confrontational by nature and I tend to
avoid direct conflicts and disagreements. This might be the reason of my low tolerance for
disagreement in the conversation. However, as I enter the professional world, disagreements
and conflicts will it become a part of the everyday communication happening in the office
and in business. Therefore, I will have to work on this skill and learn to communicate during
disagreements and about the opinions that I believe do not match with mine. The day today
decision making in business and in the work environment will also require some tolerance for
this agreement and for the people holding the beliefs and opinions opposite to that of mine. In
these cases, it will become a challenge for me to communicate if I am not tolerant about the
disagreements (Poolsawad & Wudthayagorn, 2015).
The public speaking anxiety that I suffered from what's something that I had noticed in the
classroom as well. While giving the presentations and during the group discussion I am not
very eager to talk and I like to keep my opinions and thoughts with myself. I am fairly
talkative when it comes to one to one conversation but public speaking or speaking in
meetings and group discussion makes me anxious even if I have sufficient knowledge about
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the topic being discussed. This anxiety also makes me forget what I am about to speak and I
am not able to communicate in a clear and accurate manner (Schirmer, et al., 2005).
When I reflect on my public speaking anxiety and on my inability to tolerate disagreements
during the conversations, I believe that there is a lot that I need to work on in order to
improve these. These are the inherited traits that I have developed over time and it will take a
lot of time and efforts in order to confidently speak in public and to handle conflicts and
confrontations during communication.
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Literature review: The oral communication forms a major part of our everyday conversations
and there is a lot of attention focused on the communication apprehension which is the fear or
anxiety faced by a person about the communication behaviour. Good communication skills
are no longer an added advantage but have become the basic requirement for any organisation
or workplace. The constantly changing demands of the workplaces and the work environment
and organisations becoming global and diverse has led to a rapid change in the way business
communications take place and even in the general communication landscape of the world.
The inability of a person to communicate freely with the other people acts as an inhibitor to
their success not just in the workplaces but in life as well. Communication apprehension is
the fear or anxiety faced by a person when communicating with the other people
(McCroskey, 2016). This anxiety may be because of the real conversations happening around
them or the anticipated conversation or the results of the conversations that they are a part of.
Communication apprehension for a person maybe when participating in group discussions,
meetings or even when having one to one conversation with a person. Another common
situation communication apprehension is displayed by the people is during the delivery of a
formal speech for a presentation. The people having high communication apprehension are
likely to experience increased anxiety and therefore, they tend to avoid the situation which
demand conversations and communication. Search people try to engage less in oral
communication at all times.
There are four different types of communication apprehensions which have been identified in
terms of the anxiety faced by the people. A person may face anxiety related to traits, the
audience, the context of the conversation or the situation. Anxiety is related to the traits of a
person is generally faced by the people who are not willing to participate in the conversation
because they do not have the necessary knowledge or experience with regard to it. The trait
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related anxiety can be easily overcome by imparting the necessary knowledge to the person.
Any person suffering from this anxiety will be able to perform well in the one to one or
public speaking situations with practice over time. The audience related anxiety is when a
speaker is anxious of speaking in front of the people and the people sitting in the audience are
the reason for the nervousness and anxiety faced by them (Byron, 2005). The context anxiety
related to communication apprehension in a person is caused by the uncertainty of the
situation that they are a part of. People generally face context related anxiety due to the
novelty of the environment all the communication that they are going to become a part of.
The last category of communication apprehension reported among the people is due to the
situation. In this case anxiety is created among the people because of a combination of
different factors including the psychological, social and cultural factors. The ability that a
person has to freely communicate has a different concept as compared to communication
apprehension but this ability is directly correlated to the communication apprehension
experienced by the people. That is, a person having high communication apprehension is
more likely to have a liability to communicate and vice-versa.
The ability of a person to speak in public and their competence of the same is tested in
various places during the professional life. The ability to speak confidently in public and a
person in possession with strong communication skills is more likely to succeed in their
professional life as their able to easily establish credibility and fluently and effortlessly
communicate their thoughts and opinions. The communication apprehension among the
people impacts the interpersonal relationship that they develop in the workplace and is also
considered a measure for the effectiveness of their managerial skills. A person having sound
communication skills and someone facing less apprehension when communicating freely is
more likely to succeed in the workplace. They are able to develop good interpersonal
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relationships and I also perceived to be better managers as compared to a person struggling
with apprehensions when communicating (Lahtinen, 2013).
There have been some operative shifts in the demands of the world places with regard to the
communication skills of their members. Because of this, communication apprehension has
become a significant factor acting as a distinguishing factor allowing the analysts to
differentiate between the individuals. There is also a direct correlation established between
communication apprehension and the general social anxiety found among the people which
contributes to the public speaking skills. The people having high communication
apprehension tend to face and increased social anxiety in the real or imagined communication
settings. This anxiety may result from the presence of personal evaluation or the prospect of
personal evaluation taking place in any situation. Although it is still not clear in the
communication literature if communication apprehension should be categorized as a state for
a person or an inherent trait possessed by them, but it is generally argued that it is more like a
trait which is an individual difference variable found among the people which may vary in its
magnitude depending upon the situation. Communication apprehension is also considered to
be just like any other common anxiety or fear which may be considered unreasonable by
some and which can be better understood and managed by increasing the awareness and
knowledge of this subject. It is found and established through various studies that
communication apprehension can be managed in the people and can also be reduced for a
person over time. Introversion and neuroticism are the two most common personality traits
found among the people that are attributed to the development of communication
apprehension in them (McCroskey C. , 2006).
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The mass management education literature gives little importance to communication
apprehension and the anecdotal discussion of this topic is also very limited. Communication
apprehension is not a dichotomous trait possessed by the people as generally assumed. There
are different degrees and variation of it that can be observed among the people. Another
important aspect of communication apprehension that needs to be considered is that it is not
always synonyms with the ability or the effectiveness of a person to communicate. The fears
are the anxieties faced by the person having communication apprehension are not always
rational and therefore a person who may be good at communicating and expressing may also
have communication apprehension which may prevent them from actively engaged in the
opportunity to communicate with the people which may benefit them in the long run
(Hansford & Hattie, 2009).
The reasons for development of communication apprehension between the people can be
because of a multitude of different causes which may be responsible for it. Why some people
believe it to be a personality trait that is heredity, others develop communication
apprehension over the years because of the constant pressure faced by them from the external
world. The two primary categories for the classification of the reasons are the causes for
communication apprehension development among the people can be internal and external
causes. The internal causes linked with communication apprehension among the people make
them avoid communicating freely because of the internal behaviour traits possessed by them.
Perfectionism is found to be a key reason which is linked with communication apprehension
among the people. Most of the people apprehensive to communicate openly are concerned
with their performance and in order to attain perfectionism they believe that they do not have
the required knowledge to speak in a situation. The fear of making mistakes was another
major reason identified for the development of communication apprehension which is the fear
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Running Head: Essay
in the minds of the people that they may speak or do something wrong. The people who
constantly fear making mistakes are more likely to develop a permanent communication
apprehension. People belonging to the social groups that tend to regularly remark or comment
on the communication style and content being spoken by others are more likely to develop
this fear (Hansford & Hattie, 2009).
There are numerous theories and frameworks woven around understanding disagreement and
conflict in conversation. The development of the fear or inability to tolerate disagreement in a
conversation is also a challenge that prevent the people from engaging in healthy
conversations. There are numerous different verbal communication styles adopted by the
people and the factors that shaped these verbal style include supportiveness, aggressiveness,
expressiveness, argumentativeness, precision, and assuredness. All these factors directly
contribute to shaping the communication style of a person. Having effective communication
style is the number one skill that companies all over the world seek in the managers and it is
directly linked to team efficacy and also increases the opportunity for promotion. Relatively
little attention has been paid to the problem of communication apprehension by professionals
in the field of human communication, and even less by teachers and administrators in the
public schools. Evidence is accumulating, however, that not only is a very large percentage of
the population affected by this handicap, but also that communication apprehension may
impinge on aspects of these individuals' lives in ways that would not normally be
immediately recognized. This literature review has examined the nature of communication
apprehension among the people and how it impacts their personal and professional lives.
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Running Head: Essay
Action plan: The two communication issues that I identified with the help of the Diagnostic
tools analyzing my communication styles for my inability to handle conflicts and
disagreements and my fear and anxiety of public speaking. There is an action plan that I have
created for myself which I will follow for the next 6 months to work on my communication
style and to overcome these issues. The first step that I am going to take in this direction is to
keep a journal where I will note down all the accomplishments and the places where I could
have communicated in a better manner throughout the day. I will keep the journal with me all
the time and maintain it religiously. At the end of 6 months, this journal will help me in
reflecting through my journey and also allow me to compare the difference in my
communication style after following the action plan for this time. After the completion of 6
months if I believe that there are still areas that I need to work on and I have not completely
improved in these areas, this journal will also allow me to continue with the action plan and
take the necessary steps to modify it which will help me in not only improving the plan but
also enhancing my overall communication style with the help of it. The internet is a great
resource which can help me in the improvement of my communication style and practices.
There are courses and tutorials available online that I will be going through for working on
the communication issues highlighted through the diagnostic tools. Britt Andreatta, Bonnie
Biafore, John Ullmen, Rebecca Florence are some of the mentors providing guidance on
business communication having the tutorials online that are having both free and paid
versions. I will take up these tutorials and what towards enhancing my communication style.
The strategies to improve the mental alignment have been immensely successful to improve
the performance of the people. On the basis of the evidence received from the numerous
studies, I will integrate mental practices and carry them out regularly to decrease my anxiety
of public speaking. I will make this strategy is a part of my daily routine by carrying out
visualization practices for any situation in which I need to communicate in the near future.
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Running Head: Essay
But doing this regularly, I will be able to reduce the apprehensions and also bring the stress
level down which will result in reduced anxiety. I will also go through the previously
published literature on communication apprehension and conflict avoidance along with the
books on business communication that will help me in sharpening my skills of
communication and negotiation in the workplace. Some of the book that have shortlisted to
go through in the next 6 months while working on my communication apprehension include
Communication Apprehension: Origins and Management by Betty Horwitz; Communication
Apprehension, Avoidance, and Effectiveness by Virginia Peck Richmond , Jason S Wrench
and James C. McCroskey; Argumentative and Aggressive Communication: Theory,
Research, and Application by Andrew S. Rancer and Theodore A. Avtgis; Talk Like TED:
The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds by Carmine Gallo; Speaking
Persuasively: Making the Most of Your Presentations by Patsy McCarthy and Caroline
Hatcher and The Art of Public Speaking by Stephen E Lucas.
The Gantt chart for the entire Action Plan developed for the improvement in my
communication style is presented below.
Action
Months
May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Maintain personal journal * * * * * * *
Take up online tutorials * * * * *
Read books * * * * *
Public speaking practice * *
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Running Head: Essay
Conclusion: This essay provides a brief insight to the five diagnostic tools adopted by me for
analysing my communication style and practices. With the help of these tools, I have tried to
identify the key communication issues that I face. After carrying out this analysis, I realized
that I suffer from anxiety during public speaking and also have a low tolerance for
disagreement during conversation. In this essay, I have related both these issues to the
literature available on the subject of communication and the various components of the verbal
as well as the non verbal communication that we are a part of in our day to day life. The
literature review allowed me to understand these issues better and also provided some
knowledgeable insights on these challenges of communication. With the help of this
understanding, I have developed an action plan for myself which I will follow for the next 6
months towards the enhancement of my communication style. This action plan was
developed on the basis of the results obtained from the detailed analysis and from the greater
understanding gained from the literature review. I will evaluate my performance after the
completion of 6 months on the basis of this action plan.
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References
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