Adapting Communication Styles

          In my life, I interact with and communicate with a variety of individuals belonging to different groups and cultures on a regular basis.  When I thought about the ways in which I communicate with them, I realized that I adapt my style of communication according to context and who I am speaking to. At times, while I make a conscious decision to alter how I communicate, at other times I do it unconsciously. For example, although I would communicate differently with my parents than I would with close friends, the change in style happens automatically. However, if I were communicating with a new parent attending my preschool program, first of all I would alter my style of communicate to be professional in comparison to the casual language I would use with friends and family and secondly I would listen to the individual, ask questions and look for non-verbal cues before making a conscious decision on the appropriate style of communication. Even among friends, due to difference in cultural contexts, how I communicate with friends in Sri Lanka differs to how I communicate with friends in the US. 

My ultimate goal in all my communications is to ensure that I am being culturally sensitive towards everyone I communicate with and being respectful towards all.  In order to achieve that, both in my professional life as well as in my personal life, I have realized that I need to make conscious decisions about what I should say or not say so as not to offend anyone as a result of differences in race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, varying abilities, cultural traditions and beliefs etc. For example when I recently met a close friend’s husband for the first time, I realized that I couldn’t communicate with him the same way I could with my friend. As we conversed I learned we had very different views on some topics and had to be cautious and conscious of what I said so as not to offend him. For example, unlike my friend who is Christian, he was an atheist and I being of the Christian Faith myself, I realized it would be best if we avoided discussing religion so no one would be left feeling offended in anyway. 

            This week’s resources (Gonzalez-Mena, J., 2010) taught me several strategies that I believe would help me be a more effective communicator when interacting with others from different groups and cultures:

-          Acknowledge the fact that the way we see the world is not the only way or the right way and take the time to see things and understand things through the eyes of others before rushing to judgment.

-          Take the time to be aware of my own non-verbal behaviors as well as take the time to understand the meaning behind the behaviors of others.

-          Not make assumptions about cultural groups or feel as if I can predict someone’s behavior just because I have some knowledge of their culture.

References:

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.