Professional Communication Skills
Communication is vital to the ongoing success of any relationship, both in and out of the workplace. The main two forms of communication used in the business world are written and oral communication. During my time spent at the University of Oregon I have engaged in communicative groups outside the classroom as well as improved my ability to communicate as an individual and as part of a team. In BA 352, a class centered around leadership and teamwork, I had many opportunities to use showcase my communication abilities both in written assignments and verbal exercises. In addition, as a member of the University of Oregon Stand Up Society has taught me valuable lessons which have improved my communication skills.
As fall term and BA 352 progressed, so did my ability to effectively and efficiently communicate ideas through my writing. The first writing assignment of the year was to write a formal business memo addressed to a fictitious group within the business school called the Educational Enrichment Task Force. In this memo I was assigned to identify a need/problem within the Lundquist College of Business (LCB), and to briefly suggest pathways to alleviate the problem. In the first draft of this assignment, I misunderstood the prompt. I spent almost the entirety of the page and a half explaining ways to address the problem–my focus was centered around the solution–while the prompt only requested brief pathways to a solution as a sidenote to the identification of the problem. I received a grade of “y”, which indicated that I needed to reread the prompt and restructure my work. To compare, the final writing assignment of the class was a timed writing of an executive summary of our final group proposal. I scored a 38/40 on this assignment, with comments praising my structure, tone, and content. Overall, my ability to communicate ideas and objectives through my writing has greatly improved throughout the course.
In addition to my work in the classroom, I am a very active and contributing member of the stand up comedy club here at the University of Oregon. Stand up comedy is strictly communication. It is direct oral communication with the audience, and it could not be easier to communicate a message to a (usually) focused and attentive audience. What I love about stand up comedy is it that it is seemingly impossible to be misinterpreted. Not only can you relay your message the exact way you want, but you get to witness the uncensored reaction to your message. My experience with stand up comedy has taught me that face-to face communication is unrivaled when it comes to the most efficient form of communication. I’ve learned to test the limits of my audience, and adjust some jokes accordingly–I would tell a completely different set of jokes at a family reunion than I would a comedy show on campus. Testing the limits of certain individuals, and their values, allows me to learn a lot about how a certain person behaves under pressure or when faced with adversity. I don’t push people past their limits, but rather up to their limits to explore their strengths, weaknesses, and possible contribution to the given objective.
My experience with stand up comedy and overall improvement in my writing ability throughout BA 352 have allowed me to be a communicator who is efficient, straightforward, and gets the most out of his teammates. These are all traits of not only a great communicator, but a great leader. I still have much work left to do, as there are still many areas of improvement. As I continue to take other classes and doing stand up I will work diligently to improve my interpersonal communication skills, as well as my ability to successfully relay messages through my writing. There is no room to improve within my comfort zone. I intend on pushing the boundaries of my communicative potential by meeting new people, experiencing new things, and using a bevy of methods of communication.
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September 9, 2024@ 4:46 am
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October 13, 2024@ 10:02 am
Great topic!