Who Am I as a Communicator?

My personal evaluations were somewhat different than when others evaluated me. On the Communication Anxiety Inventory, I rated myself as having high levels of communication anxiety whereas my friend and supervisor rated them as moderate. On the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale, I scored in a moderate range but was evaluated at a lower level by my friend and supervisor. For the Listening Styles profile, we all three evaluated me as the same thing. At lease we agreed on something! It is amazing how you can portray yourself as one way and really be another way.

After the evaluations, I was most surprised that I did not score higher on the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale. Too often I catch myself being quite aggressive when communicating with certain people (aka: my husband!)  and always end up apologizing.

The insight that I gained this week was to pay more attention to my level of aggression when communicating and to not be so anxious when communicating. Since my professional life involves a high volume of verbal communication, I could benefit from not being so anxious when speaking. I tend to get ahead of myself and speak entirely too quickly. It will greatly benefit my personal life to tone down my aggressiveness when communicating because I think others will be more receptive to what I am trying to say. I know my husband will be thankful!