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One concept that I have really enjoyed reading about is LISTEN. I never put listening into perspective when it comes to communications. If you think about it, there are two parts to communicating. The first part is the person who is doing the speaking. Whether that is a given speech or answering a professor in class, or even a friendly conversation. The second part of communication we lose focus on is listening and how to do just that. We listen to those given speeches, to answers in class, and especially when we are in conversation with others. If we do not listen the right way, then communication loses its power. What I mean by that is when we communicate (I believe anyway) there is always some sort of message trying to be spread and when we don’t listen to EVERYTHING in communications, and then we miss out on so much. The key to listen is to STOP making the situation about you and listen to the words and their meaning in RELEVANCE to the point on the conversation. Is really not that hard to do so J

Interesting concepts

Throughout this semester, we have learned so many different concepts to help us grow in the communications world. I have learned many new terms that have changed the way I view communications in general. Some of those terms include the dialectics, the order in which we speak, how to listen, and how to manage. I found the different dialectics to be interesting because it really showed me different ways that communication in relationships can work. I found that in different relationships that I have, I have different dialectics for each one. I found the order in which we speak to be interesting because we speak aloud on a daily basis and never puts this into perspective. Some of us speak on the spot at all times with a spacial arrangement and others are topical. These terms do not only apply to a given speech. And the last one I found to be interesting was learning how to really listen to the other person. Effective communication cannot occur when listening properly is not in play.

Research Methods

To be honest, I do not like doing any kind of research what so ever when it comes to writing a huge paper. But if I had to choose a method from table 13.2 that I found to be interesting, I would have to choose task 1, formulate a question. Often I find that I never know where to begin research because I do not know how broad or descriptive I should make it. If I come up with a specific question, I think research wouldn't be so bad. An example would be as followed. If a teacher asks me to research basketball and all I researched was the word basketball I would never finish my project. But if I research when basketball was created, I believe researching can become more interesting. My research question for the word deception would start off as, what is the definition of deception. Then it would turn into, a how question then into a where question. The method I would chose to use would have to be method of rhetorical criticism because it goes into great detail on specific questions.

"Stage-phoning, phone-shielding"

As i read through the chapter i decided to pick two terms to discuss. The first one is stage-phoning. Stage-phoning is when someone pretends to be making important phone calls to impress bystanders. I have never actually done this but i have had someone do it to me. At SJSU there are people all around all the time. I am a very outgoing person and loves to meet people. When i am at school i ind it hard to not say hi or meet someone. There are a lot of people who try to get you to sign their petition, and to be honest it just gets on my nerves when they are constantly bugging. One time a guy approached me and tried to use his 'swag' to talk to me. When i blew him off he actually found it a way to 'get in.' As we were talking, he randomly said oh i really need to take this call; my girlfriend is flying in from New York. Turns out no one was calling because when he was 'on the phone' his phone rang aloud for an incoming call. haha. i honestly do not understand why people do that. I guess it is nerves when they are struggling for conversation. This leads me to phone-shielding. Phone-shielding is when someone pretends to take a call to avoid unwanted interactions. I have definitely done this! There have been times where it becomes a safety issue so i will do that to avoid scary people! I don't think that phone-shielding is a bad thing because it can really save you.

"Cyberspace Friendships"

When it comes to the internet, I am one of the few who does not post my life away. The internet to me is actually a scary place to post whatever you want because ANYTHING you post on the internet/email/text/ can be found somehow. There is no privacy what-so-ever. I have never met anyone on the internet and do not currently have any friendships over through the mass media. The reason I have not met anyone exclusively online is because you really never know who you are dealing with. I am too scared to give out personal information online. One of my mom's friend met a man online and they started dating and everything was all fine and dandy, until they got married that is. Turns out he just needed a green card. The closest I have ever come to online friendships is when my boyfriend and I were long distance. He lived in Oklahoma and I lived here in California. Hardest thing I ever had to go through! Not having face to face contact was harder than i thought it would have been. We need contact to create effective communication between each other, especially when we are in an argument. I wouldn’t recommend long distance, and definitely NEVER meeting someone online. You have to have a lot of trust for something like that. There are too many crazy people out there!

"Proper Etiquette"

Our book gives us a table of different types of etiquette for our generation today within the use of different technologies. When it comes to cell phones I agree with the book that they should be used during personal time. They should not be used in public areas whereas it affects the people who surround them. The only time I can think of a time where they should be used in public is if it is an emergency. When it comes to answering machines, I don’t necessarily agree with the book. It is your answering machine so do with it what you wish. The only time that becomes a problem is when your job or business calls and you have something that is inappropriate. Conference calls are just confusing all around. I have never been in a conference call, but I have a family member that has to participate in them all the time. All I can say about that is to know what you are doing prior to being involved in one. Faxes are also confusing to me. Faxing conversations seems pointless, so don’t do it. I think the proper etiquette for faxes would only be to fax what you need and nothing else. The only time I have really encountered an inappropriate use of technology is when people use their cellular devices in movie theaters. It becomes EXTREMLY annoying when a beep going off every five minutes and a HUGE white screen gets shined in my face. I personally find it so rude when I am put on hold in a personal call that is. We are having a casual conversation don’t then you gotta go because another friend is calling..... RUDE.

Organizational Communication

As we read in chapter Eight, organizations are in almost all aspects of your life. When we work, go to a store, drive down the road, there is an organizational 'something' to all of it. When it comes to organizations that are tied into the environment we live in, we can definitely see the organizational patterns. We live in the city so our town is more structured than smaller towns. We are a very busy city and contain a lot of people who need to be here there and every where. Organizations are not just people who run operations, they are filtered in all around. For an example, when we drive down the street, we all 'know' the rules and become and organization when we are behind the wheel. I attend SJSU and it is in the middle of downtown San Jose. Our school is appropriately suited for the surrounding environment. SJSU is a commuter school and is always on the go, just as the city is. The organization SJSU upholds is important to the surrounding environment because it is a structure and place of habit and growth.

"Unattractive"

When it comes to choosing a possible romantic partner, there are many filters I use to eliminate people that I consider. I am not one to judge a book by its cover because I don’t my outside image matches my inside image. One thing I do look for is somewhat of height. I am a tall woman and it is often that men are shorter than me. My boyfriend is the same height as me so it works out. What I find unattractive in a man is when there is no personality and or they are too into themselves. My personality is all over the place and becomes very impatient with boring people. It is such a turn off when I cannot carry on a conversation with someone. Also if a man treats his mother poorly, that is another no-no for me. The way a man treats his mother is the same way he will treat his girlfriend. When it comes to Duck's theory, I do understand what he is saying. I can’t really put myself into his theory because I have only been with one person and I have known hi, since I was five so there weren’t any judgments when I 'met' him. I had a friend who was long distance for a while and I was so against it because how could there be trust? I would have eliminated that partner simply because of the long distance.