Context paper
Student’s name
Institution
Date
Introduction
COM 100 has been a fascinating course for me since I commenced my studies on it. Covering more widely on communication, I find the course vital in sharpening my skills in communication. Many people often inquire about the role of a communications major in the industry, and the precise answer is often direct; communication professionals work in a wide range of fields both in public and the private sectors. This context paper hence will describe the course offerings, topics that I enjoyed taking, and their impact in my professional career.
The topic I enjoyed most is learning about the types of communication strategies. Communication strategies subject has been essential in integrating all the strategies and, thus, enable me to see the most success. One type is verbal communication. I use verbal communication in my everyday life, and I find it essential since there’s no single day that passes without me writing an e-mail, a chat, or a text (Torres, 2005). Similarly, I also use the oral category of verbal communication like a phone call, video chat, etc. Therefore, these daily communication strategies are similar to my professional career path.
There’s also non-verbal and visual communication strategies. Non-verbal communication strategies mainly consist of visual cues like facial expressions, body language, or the tone of the speaker’s voice. Visual communication strategies can be observed through signs, illustrations, and webpages. This type of communication is mostly used in workplace environments whereby human resources are required to draw attention to workers to comply with safety laws (King, 2009). As part of my communication profession, visual communication strategies is the part I find the most essential.
Building communication skills is the class I mostly enjoy taking. The communication skills are skills built over time for one to gain experience and expertise in communication. Famous communication majors often started their careers, building their skills in communication while at school. The three communication skills that are a must-have for this study are verbal, non-verbal, and visual (King, 2009). Through this study, I have come to appreciate the role of good communication skills in day-to-day conversations, decision making, and even problem-solving.
Additionally, tips for improving my communication skills have been clearly outlined in the study. Some of the tips include; taking time to respond, developing listening skills through listening with judgment, and make communication your top priority (Torres, 2005). Making it the top priority can be through reading books, magazines, articles, and learning from successful communicators around you. For instance, I have been following CNN’s Dana Bash communication skills and trying to emulate her. Bash is CNN’s chief political correspondent and played a big role in election coverage.
The courses that I think will have the biggest impact on my professional career are communication theory and public speaking. Communication theory is a mathematics and information theory that studies the technical processes of communication. Communication theory also focuses on sociology, psychology, anthropology, and semiotics (Torres, 2005). Studying communication theory will no doubt help me use the technical processes of communication together with the verbal and non-verbal cues to practice my profession.
Secondly, mastering the art of public speaking is another essential element that will enable me to practice my career effectively. Through these courses, I learned that finding the style that suits me most, in this case, note-taking and memorization, will have the biggest positive impact in my career since it helps me have confidence while giving a public address (King, 2009). Public speaking is an art that most well-known professionals in this field have; hence, it is one of the essential elements that will have a huge impact on my professional career.
These courses form part of my strategies in mastering the art of communication. Building communication skills and mastering these strategies to enable me to practice my career have had the biggest impact. Going forward, I dream of exercising these strategies in a workplace where I will be able to experience them and employ my acquired skills in a real-world context.
Conclusion
Through the study of COM 100 this semester, a clear view of the shape of my career is slowly coming into focus. Learning about verbal, non-verbal, and visual communication strategies has been vital in equipping me with enough knowledge about these strategies. Similarly, tips for building good communication skills will ensure that I gain enough knowledge and expertise as communications major.
References
King, C. L. (2009). Emergent communication strategies. International journal of strategic communication, 4(1), 19-38.
Torres, R. T., Preskill, H., & Piontek, M. E. (2005). Evaluation strategies for communicating and reporting: Enhancing learning in organizations. Sage.