Week 1 Effective Communication: Who Do I Admire?

When I think of someone I know who communicates well, I think of my husband. Not to say that he talks a lot, but when he does talk he is considerate of the receiving person and that he/she has a good understanding within the conversation. In our small school facility, I watch him meet with new and prospective parents and families that would like to see our facility, meet our staff members, and get an overall better feel for our programs. He always begins with a warm welcoming, which when communicating with a person, helps to set the tone of the meeting. Now I don't have a photo of him, but he's a big guy - about 6'5" tall and can definitely hold his ground. To a child he looks rather intimidating, so especially for him it's important to consider how he is physically perceived by others. It's interesting how most of what we communicate to others isn't words at all, but is in our body language. He consistently keeps that in mind when he communicates with others as a way of creating a warm setting.
Another thing he does well is sets an appropriate channel for which communication is received and uses a respectful and responsible method of doing so. Although I live with him and have to make hundreds of decisions with him and communicate as a spouse constantly, but when I have the opportunity just to overhear a conversation between him and a new parent to come to our facility for a tour, much of his communication falls under the category of control (O'Hair, 2009). He portrays our school and answers questions in a way to best show these parents our programs and how his/her child(ren) would fit into the environment. What I love most about his tours is definitely his ethics and his honesty. He doesn't want to dazzle parents and families just to reel them in to pack on our enrollment, but he really wants to show what we can offer and sets a picture for them to decide how best a fit we are, sometimes even suggesting to look at other facilities for their own benefit if he doesn't see a good match through his own experience as an educator. One last thing he does is shares his experience and knowledge, as an educator, in his communication. I think this helps to develop an affiliation, not for himself, but instead for his cause (O'Hair, 2009).
Overall, my husband has effective communication skills that come from his caring and considerate personality as well as experience, that I would love to learn from and be able to adopt into my own communication.
References

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.