Self Reflection Essay: Communication Skills and Glossophobia

This self-reflection essay examines the student's communication skills, utilizing diagnostic tools to analyze verbal, non-verbal, and public speaking abilities. The essay presents findings from tools like the SPCC, non-verbal immediacy scale, intercultural communication apprehension report, and talkaholic scale, highlighting strengths and weaknesses in various communication contexts. Key issues identified include a lack of confidence in public speaking and difficulties with non-verbal communication. The essay reflects on two recent professional interactions, illustrating these communication challenges. Furthermore, it explores glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, discussing its causes and impact, and offering insights into overcoming stage fright and improving overall communication effectiveness. The essay concludes with recommendations for personal development and enhanced professional interactions.

Running head: SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
Self reflection Essay
Name of the Student:
Nam of the University:
Author’s Note:

2SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
Part1
a) Using 5 diagnostic tools related to communication, you are to analyse your own
communication style across various areas such as verbal communication, active listening,
non- verbal, and assertiveness perception. You will be given the individual diagnostics
during the tutorials. Your tutor/lecturer will check and sign-off that you have completed
each individual diagnostic during the tutorials. This means that if you fail to attend some
or any of tutorial you will not be able to receive and complete the diagnostics. The signed
diagnostics must be submitted as a separate PDF file.
Communication is one of the most important aspects of the modern times, a sound
communication system is needed everywhere (PeleckienÄ & Polajeva, 2016). It is one of the
most important aspects of the personal and the professional fields as well. These can be best
known for the use of the diagnostic tools. I used some of the well known diagnostic tools that
have helped me largely to know the particular areas of communication where I fall weak. I have
been provided with all the adequate resources given by the class teacher. I have scored different
marks in all the different communication tools. This has largely helped me in knowing the
strengths and the areas of weakness that needs to be worked upon. The first tool that I have used
is self-perceived communication competence questionnaire. This has helped me to know what I
feel about my communication style when I am in a situation where I have to speak in front of
many different people. The second was the non verbal immediacy scale report that helped to
know my own feelings towards communicating with people by using the signs like hand
gestures. The third and the important tool that I used was a tool that helped me to gauge my
competence I arenas of public speaking that is the Personal Report of Intercultural
communication apprehension. The fourth being the talkaholic scale, which helped me to know

3SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
my skill of speaking freely in front people. All these tools have really been very useful for me to
identify the areas of my strength and weakness. I am very weak in the non verbal immediacy
aspect that is I cannot really use the non verbal signs like patting on the back, or appreciating by
joining hands and other such aspects. Whenever I try to speak in group of the intercultural people
I often suffer from lack of proper confidence. This is because I am afraid that I might end up in
hurting the emotions of someone (Kernbach, Eppler & Bresciani, 2015).
I know that I have to somehow overcome these situations because often I will have to speak with
people who are coming from many different cultural backgrounds. This naturally means that all
these people coming from the intercultural backgrounds will have difference in their thinking
and preference patterns (Mehrabian, 2017). I have to make sure that I am not making any such
comments that are hurting the emotions or sentiments of each other.
I feel that all these scores are really very similar to the present condition of my
communication skill. I could very easily relate these scores to my personal communication
situation. I feel that I really need to work very hard in the aspect of public speaking. This is
because I need to talk in the public fronts. As I have stepped into the professional field I have to
face this very often and this has really become a huge challenge for me. I am finding it to be a
threat to my professional career. So I need to work more and more on these aspects so that I can
develop my public speaking skills. In order to know all the strengths and the loopholes in my
communication skill, I had to undertake many different tests. This helped me find out the
intricate details of my communication skills and the areas where I need to actually work upon.
My professors have really helped me a lot to work on this particular aspect.

4SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
b) You are to present the findings of the tools. The scores for each diagnostic must be
included in your essay. In doing so you will show your understanding of the results as they
apply to your personal situation
I have got many different findings of the communication tools that I have used. Working
on these tools has really been very helpful as they have shown me the deep and the intricate
details of all the communication tools. The first among them is the SPCC. This is the self-
perceived communication competence scale and my score over there is 60 in total and I have also
got different score showing my communication skills for speaking with different groups of
people at different kinds of situation (Pearson, 2017). They are also different types of score that I
have got on my communication skills with many friends, acquaintance, stranger, meeting, public
and other such scenarios. This has been very helpful as it has shown me that I need to work on
my public speaking skills. Particularly I have to groom myself a lot while I am addressing a
large group of people in any meeting like any business meeting as my score was as low as 36.66.
My score in then on verbal immediacy scale report was 88. This shows that I have to really work
upon these aspects it is very much needed in conveying my attitudes and my feelings towards
others through different clues and nonverbal signs and not through direct verbal speaking.
Another tool that has been used is the personal tool of intercultural communication. I know that
cross-cultural employment is one of the crucial issues of the modern day scenario and this are
also very important for me to maintain in my professional life (Eaves & Leathers, 2017). My
score over here is 39 which is not really very low but at the same time it is not very high either
and so I have to work on it. I know that I will have to deal with so many people from different
cultural backgrounds in any professional life and I have to develop my communication skill so
that I can speak with them confidently and with proper respect. On the talkaholic scale, my score

5SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
is 27 that is Evident of the fact that I am not really very open towards talking with people at all
the different kinds of situation.
Based upon your analysis of the findings you are to identify two key communication
issues that you have identified as requiring development.
There are some key issues that I have got from the results of these communication tools. I
feel that the 2 main issues among them are my inability to speak on the public front and also the
inability to use the non verbal sign languages (Bargiela-Chiappini & Nickerson, 2014). This is
because I lack the confidence that is needed while speaking at the business meeting and in front
of any large business meet. I have to work on this as I have felt that I am comfortable in talking
to people who are my friends or my close ones but I lose the confidence when I am speaking to a
large number of people in any business meet or any kind of public and social places (Cole,
2017). I also realized that whenever I am speaking in a large group of people I feel that I will
speak something unneeded or something that will hurt the emotions and the sentiments of the
people around me. So I suffer from a kind of unknown fear. The second key issue is my lack of
using the non verbal signs of communication. I am a very shy kind of a person and I often restrict
myself away from the physical contacts like giving a friendly hug, handshakes or patting on the
back and other such aspects.
Reflect on two recent professional interactions that you have had within the past 12
months. Analyse these interactions from the perspective of the two key communication
issues that are

6SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
About a month back I was given the charge of speaking to a group presentation that I had
prepared as a part of my office assignment. However, I did the writing part in a very good
manner. I was feeling very nervous and tensed when I had to speak the same in front of the
public. I was sweating and was biting my nails in fear. I plucked my courage. I know that I am
working as an assistant manager and I need to talk to all my employees and also so many
stakeholders so often. So I need to make sure that I am being able to speak to all the people
properly and without any kinds of fear. Though I managed to speak properly I missed out many
important points. This was my self-realization that I am not able to speak confidently and with
my full potential. So, I realized that I really need to work very hard on this.
The second thing happened when I was working as a team lead and was given the charge
of looking after the team. While the team members were asked to give ratings to their team
leaders and to share their feedbacks, I saw that most of them felt I was very disinterested and I
did not ever appreciated them on their achievements. They were expecting things like a small
hug, a little appreciation by patting them on their back or hand shaking with them whenever
some deal was there. As I am very shy I often kept myself away from all these.
Part 2
Glossophobia is the other name for the anxiety or the fear of speaking in public. This
often becomes very dangerous, when I am not at all able to speak properly in front of people.
There are actually many reasons behind this kind of behavior. One among them is surely the
stage fear that I suffer from. This makes me very afraid whenever there is the instance of
speaking on the public front (Kernbach, Eppler & Bresciani, 2015).

7SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
There are multiple reasons or causes that lead to the fear of public speaking. If any of
these reasons are present in huge a count within any individual the this will really make those
individuals try to restrict themselves from the act of speaking in the public places. The
nervousness is of different kinds and there are reasons why a speaker struggles from stage fright.
One is self-consciousness in front of the large groups (Sorrells, 2015). It is very common to hear
that the speakers are very comfortable and confident in speaking in front of the friends or their
known faces. However, they feel very nervous whenever they are speaking in front of the large
group of people. This is also somehow related to the fact that the speakers often do not make any
preparations to speak in front of large group of people. They must keep the habit of practicing
properly in front of the audiences’ before they are going out for their final turns. The next is the
fear of appearing nervous (Georgescu & Popescul, 2015). Often the speakers suffer from this
view that they will become very nervous while speaking in front of the public in any kinds of
public meetings then they will be bullied and will be appearing as nothing but a joke in front of
all the people (Samovar et al., 2014). There is also this concern that they are being seen and
being judged by others. This perhaps is one of the most harmful and the biggest fear of all that
makes one very nervous whenever they are about to speak in front of a large number of people.
They feel that they are really under a huge pressure and they are not in a situation of making any
mistake. They feel that the audiences are judges’ and are judging each and every move of theirs.
The past failure is also one of the major concerns. Often the speakers feel that they will be going
through the same kinds of experience that they had earlier. This can so happen that there are
some ill experiences that the speakers have in their past related to the doing of public speaking.
They cannot get this bitter experience out of their minds and keep on thinking that they will be
committing the same mistakes again and again. So, they often get afraid and they end up in doing

8SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
the same mistake that they did earlier. The past experiences leave a strong mark in the
subconscious mind if the speakers and whenever they see a large room filled with so many
people, they feel that they are have forgotten whatever they have prepared and they suffer from a
tension (Manusov, 2014). Poor and insufficient preparation is one of the major mistakes that can
be made by the speakers (Quirke, 2017). Often they get overconfident and feel that they do not
need to do any homework or any kinds of practice. They feel that they are ready with their work
and they will manage it on the final day. However, they often fail to do so and they mess it up at
the time of speaking in the public front. They often do not give much importance to practice and
do not do any homework. Narcissism is another reason behind this. Often the speakers are
preoccupied with themselves and they do not understand the fact that what matters is the
connection that is being built between them and their listeners or the audiences. They often keep
on giving undue importance to themselves. They forget about the fact that they are of secondary
importance here and what matters is the audiences are of the prime importance (Roth, 2014).
So, the speakers who suffer from these fears of public speaking must be able to keep a
strict eye upon this reason and they might try and find out some of the other kinds of solution
that will help them to overcome this problem as well. Public speaking is one of the most crucial
aspects of the business scenario (Hunter, Westwick & Haleta, 2014). The managers have to
manage the working of the entire organization keeping this in mind that they have to be very sure
and very confident about each and every move. There can be the problem of intercultural
communication as well. Managers who have a moderate or a low intercultural communication
skill are not able to address all the people belonging to other cultures and religion. The managers
have to keep in mind that they must treat all their employees equally. They will have to learn and
know about the language, religion and the culture of all the people and will have to speak with

9SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
them in a very confident and an effective manner. They will have to involve all their co-workers
including their subordinates in all the business meeting s as well. They will have to keep in mind
that they are to include all in the decision-making process and this will be possible only if they
can freely communicate their motif and the goals. Communication is one of the most important
aspects that one needs in order to achieve this target (Martin, 2015).
The second issue that I often face is the problem in the expression of the non verbal
immediacies. In other words, I often find it very difficult to use the signs of non verbal
communication which indeed is a very important aspect.
There are several reasons behind the tolerance of disagreement that is often seen by many
individuals in the workplace. There are so many different reasons behind disagreement. There
are actually so many reasons behind the arising conflicts and the disagreements that arise in the
workplaces. One of the major reasons behind this is the fact that people keep some of the other
kinds of loopholes in the communication. Improper ways of communication are one of the major
reasons behind the conflicts and the mismatch of opinions that arise in the workplaces or even in
the households of the speakers (Cardon, 2014). However, this is also determined by the place,
situation and the people who are involved in the kind of the disagreement or the conflict.
However, in the workplace, there are so many different reasons that are responsible for the
arising conflict or the disagreement. This is one of the significant factors in the interpersonal
communication as well (Ryan & Zuber-Skerritt, 2017). There are so many factors that can give
rise to the conflict and the disagreement in the communication. They are argumentativeness,
expressiveness, supportiveness and other such things. The way the managers communicate and
address their subordinates within the official context has a major impact on the conflict or the
disagreement that is arising in the workplaces. Conflicts in interpersonal communication can

10SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
arise due to the lack of similarities in the thoughts and the opinions of the people. This is often
because of the fact that people belong from different culture and religion. As a result of this, they
have different thoughts and preferences (Quirke, 2017). In such cases, it is the managers who
have to address the cross-cultural conflicts that may arise and make sure that he is being able to
carry on the communication properly. There can be intergroup conflicts as well. There can be a
huge conflict among the different team members. The only solution in such cases is a proper
communication that will help in making the problems solved. However, if the manager is not
able to speak properly with confidence then he will not be able to make the solution and there
will be a huge problem (Feldman, 2014).

11SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
Part3
Action plan
One of the best ways in which this conflict can be solved is by using the nonverbal
immediacy communication system as well. Signs that initiate positivity like the nudge, smile,
patting on the back and other such signs. However, I have to make an action plan that will be
helpful in helping me to solve this problem. This action plan will help me to know the kinds of
the resources that will be helpful for me. I will also be planning a kind of routine or schedule that
will help me to plan out the time schedule that will be helpful for working on my communication
gaps. I will be able to
What do I want
to learn?
What do I have to do? What support
and resources
will I need?
How will I
measure my
success?
The target
date for
review of
results.
Undertaking
specific short
courses, to
develop skills
based on
As time is a very
crucial factor, I will
take part in this
course and will make
sure that I am
I will need
sources like
joining the
classes and
undertaking all
I will measure
my success on
the
performance
that I do in
August 15th.

12SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
actual courses
that are
available.
UNDERTAKING
PROPER LESSONS
TO OEVRCOME
THE
COMMUNICATION
GAPS.
the notes class
Undertaking
advanced post-
graduate
communicatio
n courses at
CQU or other
institutions.
I need to enrol myself
in many of the
courses that will be
helpful.
Resources are
like getting the
proper class
notes from the
advanced p.g
classes that I
will be
undertaking.
I will measure
my success as
per my
performance
and I will also
get feedback
from my peers
and my
colleagues.
15th sep
A reading plan
to acquire
conceptual
knowledge,
which may
include specific
There are some
books that have to be
read on a daily basis.
I will need to
know the
names of the
self help books
and read them
on a daily
basis.
I will measure
the success
based on the
ways in which I
change my
behaviour.
10th aug to
30 oct

13SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
communicatio
n texts and
self-help books
which must be
specified.
Books like-
Difficult
Conversations:
How to Have
Conversations
that Matter the
Most by
Douglas Stone,
Bruce Patton,
Sheila Heen,
and Roger
Fisher
Maintaining of
personal
journals
reflecting on
communicatio
n interactions.
I have to develop
habits like
maintaining a
journal or a record
of the practices that I
am inculcating
Resources are
like people to
interact with.
The feedbacks
that I get from
people reading
my
communication

14SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
Activities Month1 Month2 Month3 Month4 Month5 Month6
Undertaking
short courses
Undertaking
advanced post
graduate
courses
Reading self
help books like
How to Win
Friends and
Influence
People by Dale
Carnegie
Maintaining of
personal
journals
reflecting on
communication
interactions.

15SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
Thus, it can be concluded that these communication tools have been very helpful in
identifying the areas of my strength and my weakness. At the same time, I have been able to get
a clear picture of the areas where I am really very weak and I missed work upon. I have found
out the two major problems in my communication skill like the public speaking nervousness and
the conflict and tolerance for disagreement. Among public speaking fear the cross-cultural
communication skill is one of the major areas where I need to work upon. This will help me in
gathering all the resources that will be helping me in overcoming these problems. I made the
action plan that will be helping, me to follow all the resources that can help me in this. I will also
get a proper time frame that will be helping me to solve this problem.

16SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
References
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discourses. Routledge.
Burgoon, J. K., Guerrero, L. K., & Floyd, K. (2016). Nonverbal communication. Routledge.
Cardon, P. W. (2014). Business communication: Developing leaders for a networked world. New
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17SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
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18SELF REFLECTION ESSAY
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