Communication Diagnostic Tests: Identifying Communication Issues And Creating An Action Plan

The Talkaholic Scale Communication Questionnaire

Question:

Discuss about the Importance Of Effective Communication.

The importance of effective communication in human life can never be overstated. A person who feels confident while speaking, and can assert his views as and when required, can lead a successful life, both in the personal as well as the professional domain. Hence, I felt that it has become extremely important to analyse my communication skills and identify any communication issues, if present me, that I need to work on (Evans et al., 2017). I have realized that effective communication skills will not only help me later in my professional life, right from getting selected in an interview to leading and managing my team at workplace, but will also help me interact effectively with my professor, friends and family members. Considering the importance of analysing my communication skills, I undertook communication self-assessment test with the help of five distinct diagnostic tests, the results and findings of which have been discussed below, along with the action plans that I need to follow in order to overcome the identified communication issues (Leathers & Eaves, 2015).  

The first communication diagnostic tool used by me is the Talkaholic Scale Communication Questionnaire. This specific questionnaire helps to understand if the person taking the test is a Talkaholic or not. Although the word is often used in a derogatory way, it should be remembered that a positive result in this test does imply that the individual is an effective communicator. The whole idea of the test is to determine if the speaker is able to communicate effectively in presence of others or not, and being a Talkaholic is quite different from being talkative. A Talkaholic neither uses offensive words, nor does he talk too much, but knows how to express his views and ask questions, as and when he requires to do. Accordingly, on undertaking the test, I found out that I scored 27, which implies I am moderately talkaholic. The result suggested that I communicate with people as and when required, and i do not have the tendency to engage myself in conversations, which can be avoided by me. I am not verbal that way, and prefer to remain quiet, unless the situation arises which demands me to express and exchange my views. The result also suggested that I am not capable of dominating conversations, and my apathy towards initiating conversations can also be seen as a symptom of my behavioural shyness.

Listening Diagnostic Pre-test

The second test that I undertook is called Listening Diagnostic Pre-test, which intends to evaluate the listening skills of the speaker. As it is a known fact, listening is one of the most important features characterizing the communication style of a good communicator. A person should not merely talk but necessarily be ready to embrace the perspectives of other people. Accordingly, after taking the test, I found out that I scored 75 which shows that I am not a bad listener at all, even if I am not an effective listener. I usually prefer to avoid boring speech sessions, which is quite normal for anyone. However, the results of the questionnaire clearly suggested that I put efforts to appreciate the speech and perspectives of the speaker even if he does not express views and opinions I subscribe to. Even though I may not be able to appreciate the perspectives expressed by the speaker, I never tend to get up and neither levae the conversation, nor do I feel bored in a remarkable way. In other words, I do possess effective listening skills not merely because I remain present at the time of the speech even if I do not like it, but essentially because I actively listen to and engage myself in the conversation.

Although verbal communication receives most of the attention, non-verbal communication is no less important to be considered. The way a person interacts, the gestures he uses and the body movements of him, can say much about his communication approach and style. In order to evaluate my non-verbal communication skills, I undertook the Non-verbal Immediacy Scale Self Report. As per the findings of the report, my non-verbal communication skills are perfect. I always maintain a relaxed position, never frown or exhibit any negative facial expression, that can be considered to be offensive. This test, just like the above two reports, confirmed that I have no communication issue in this field as well, as far as my body gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, postures and voice tone are concerned.

It is not sufficient to be able to communicate with people and listen to them, but it is equally important to strike effective and free conversation with the people coming from foreign locations or belonging to different cultural groups. Accordingly, in order to examine my inter-cultural communication skills, I undertook the Personal Report on Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA) that helps in showing the degree of intercultural competence of the student in the communication process. This is the test where I identified my first communication issue, as the findings suggested that I am not competent enough to engage in conversations that involve speakers from different cultural backgrounds of the society. Accordingly, the test showed that I feel nervous and tend to get anxious when I engage in conversation with people of distinct cultural backgrounds. The inability to understand a new language, along with lack of comprehension of understanding the cultural norms and ideological beliefs of the person from an alien culture, creates anxiety in me, and my thought often gets jumbled up within, while I try to express my opinions before the person. My low score of 42 suggested that I may have problems in working in a diverse workplace owing to cross-cultural communication problems.

Non-verbal Immediacy Scale Self Report

I also undertook the Public Speaking Anxiety Test to understand if I get anxious at the time of delivering communication or not, and I scored 98, suggesting I have speech anxiety issue. After undertaking the test, I discovered that I experience intense fear and communication apprehension while or prior to delivering a presentation, and also often experience stage fright. While delivering a speech in the public, I often experience nervousness and anxiety, as I feel that I am in a subordinate position, or that the audience may critique me as well.

I would like to mention here that recently I had experienced am intercultural communication problem, as I met a Japanese client at workplace. Since I belong to the Australian culture, I tend to behave in a professional way, and refrain from disclosing personal experience in a professional area. However, the client was from Asia, and having belonged to a collectivist culture, he tended to strike a conversation with me about my personal life. However, owing to my ineffective intercultural issue, I miserably failed to engage in an effective communication. Much before undertaking the anxiety assessing test, I was aware that I had public speaking anxiety. I had a nerve-wrecking presentation experience, where I had to communicate the proposed business project to my boss, and the very sight of hierarchically superior employees made me nervous. Most of the time, I murmured and stammered, and my superiors claimed that they could not make any sense of the professional presentation.

Having identified the two communication issues, I have identified through the diagnostic tools, I have decided to conduct a literature review of these two communication flaws and discuss the critical perspectives of the scholars and critics. Research suggests that language difference is the major challenge impeding the smooth flow of effective communication (Fujimori et al., 2014). Even if the speaker knows the language of the listener, he still may be incapable of striking meaningful conversation as the very same word may have different meanings and implications in different cultures (Kinloch & Metge, 2014). Besides, the difference in non-verbal communication approach often leaves the spake from another culture confused or even prejudiced. For example, a Latin American businessperson may tend o stand closer to his business partner while a North American businessperson will avoid the same. Again, a Chinese communicator may prefer to engage in personal conversation with his business partner, but a German businessman will be offended by such “non-professional” conduct. Critics suggest that the inability to comprehend a foreign language and the challenges encountered in deciphering the body language and non-verbal discourse of the foreign person account for ineffective intercultural communication problem, in most of the cases (Warren, 2017).  It is equally important to state here that often people experience cross-cultural communication problems simply because they develop negative stereotypes and prejudices as a result of ethnocentrism, which compels one to believe that his own culture is superior to the culture of the listener (Bochner, 2013). Once prejudices, smooth flow of effective communication will necessarily be impeded.

Personal Report on Intercultural Communication Apprehension

Again, at the same time, it is also important to examine the academic literature and past researches to understand the problem of public speaking anxiety as a serious communication issue (Glassman et al., 2014). Public Speaking Anxiety, also referred to as PSA, is defined as a sense of fear panic and anxiety as experienced by the speaker while delivering speech before an audience (Priestley et al., 2015). Critics suggest that PSA commonly occurs when the speaker is well-aware that the people sitting in the audience are superior to him, in terms of position or intelligence, which creates a sense of fear and possible failure, that lead to their communication failure. 76% of the respondents in a research claimed that they experience public speech fear, and the fear of delivering speech in the public has even outranked the common fears of mice, height and visit to a dental clinic as well (Nazligul et al., 2017). Further, research has indicated that there are some common reasons behind communicators experiencing public speech anxiety (Mesri et al., 2017). First of all, the communicator does not regularly require delivering a public presentation each day, and hence he often fails to communicate spontaneously on the special occasions (Castillo, 2016). Often a sense of awareness about the speaker’s inferior position, in terms of designation or skills impedes his ability to express his ideas openly, leading to the anxiety. Most importantly, in most of the cases, the speaker becomes unusually self-focused as he finds the audience either blankly staring at him or ignoring him, both of which affects his confidence level in a negative way. 

After having identified two major communication issues of mine, and having thoroughly researched about the causes and implications of the same, I have decided to adopt an effective communication plan that can help me overcome these communication challenges. My action plan comprises of the actions I am going to undertake for the coming six months. Each of these strategies have been adopted as per the SMART goals, so that each of them is specific, measurable, attainable, reliable and time-specific. I have also created a Gantt chart to explain the time-duration of each action so as to show within what time exactly I will be able to accomplish the objectives.

First of all, in order to overcome the problem of poor cross-cultural communication issues, I will enrol myself in a cultural training course that is expected to boost my knowledge of the ideals and norms of the people of different cultures, and appreciate the cultural differences. However, mere training will be insufficient unless the same is accompanied by practical experience. This is exactly the reason, why I will also participate in at least three different cross-cultural communication workshops that will help in improving my cross-cultural communication experience, as I will be made to interact with people of different cultures and my communication approach will be supervised by the communication experts (Samovar et al., 2014).  Above all, the inability to understand a foreign language often impedes effective cross-cultural communication, and hence I will alos enrols myself in some foreign language learning courses. Since it is impossible for me to develop knowledge regarding all the international languages, I will enrol myself in some of the specific language learning courses such as Spanish, French and Russian, which are relevant to my business needs.  

Public Speaking Anxiety Test

Next, in order to address the problem of my public speaking anxiety, I have chalked a few strategies which have been discussed here. First of all, I will join a public speech class that will provide me practical strategies to speak more confidently before the public. Next, I will practice delivering speech at home, by writing a script, and practicing the speech before the mirror and few of my close friends and family members. I will ask them to evaluate my communication approach and point out, any flaw, if any.  I will observe my own gestures, body languages and body movements in the mirror that will help me in self-evaluation as well.  I will also read books about public speech that will help to inspire me and boost my confidence in delivering speech before the live audience. I will buy and read books like Eloquence in Public Speaking by Dr. Kenneth McFarland (Panayiotou et al., 2017).

Action	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6
Cultural Training Course
Cross-cultural Communication Workshops
Foreign Language Learning Courses
Public Speech Class
Practice Speech Delivery at Home
Buy and Read Inspirational Books

References

Bochner, S. (Ed.). (2013). Cultures in contact: Studies in cross-cultural interaction (Vol. 1). Elsevier.

Castillo, L. O. (2016). Colored Visuals: Their Implications to Public Speaking Anxiety (Doctoral dissertation).

Evans, D. R., Hearn, M. T., Uhlemann, M. R., & Ivey, A. E. (2017). Essential interviewing: A programmed approach to effective communication. Nelson Education.

Fujimori, M., Shirai, Y., Asai, M., Kubota, K., Katsumata, N., & Uchitomi, Y. (2014). Effect of communication skills training program for oncologists based on patient preferences for communication when receiving bad news: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of clinical oncology, 32(20), 2166-2172.

Glassman, L. H., Herbert, J. D., Forman, E. M., Bradley, L. E., Izzetoglu, M., Ruocco, A. C., & Goldstein, S. P. (2014). Near-infrared spectroscopic assessment of in vivo prefrontal activation in public speaking anxiety: A preliminary study. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 1(3), 271.

Kinloch, P., & Metge, J. (2014). Talking past each other: problems of cross cultural communication. Victoria University Press.

Leathers, D. G., & Eaves, M. (2015). Successful nonverbal communication: Principles and applications. Routledge.

Mesri, B., Niles, A. N., Pittig, A., LeBeau, R. T., Haik, E., & Craske, M. G. (2017). Public speaking avoidance as a treatment moderator for social anxiety disorder. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 55, 66-72.

Nazligul, M. D., Yilmaz, M., Gulec, U., Gozcu, M. A., O’Connor, R. V., & Clarke, P. M. (2017, September). Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety of Software Engineers Using Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy. In European Conference on Software Process Improvement (pp. 191-202). Springer, Cham.

Panayiotou, G., Karekla, M., Georgiou, D., Constantinou, E., & Paraskeva-Siamata, M. (2017). Psychophysiological and self-reported reactivity associated with social anxiety and public speaking fear symptoms: Effects of fear versus distress. Psychiatry Research.

Priestley, J., Moghaddam, N., & Dawson, D. (2015). ACT for public speaking anxiety: a case series study of effects on self-reported, implicit, Imaginal and in-vivo performance outcomes.

Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E., McDaniel, E. R., & Roy, C. S. (2014). Intercultural communication: A reader. Cengage Learning.

Warren, T. L. (2017). Cross-cultural Communication: Perspectives in theory and practice. Routledge.