In this course, I had the opportunity to learn about how to become a better communicator. As an introverted person, I tend to hide my feelings and thoughts from others. I had several assignments that required all students to record themselves and answer questions. At first, I had to redo my recording multiple times because I was not comfortable in front of the camera, but then a couple of assignments later I started to get better. After finishing the course, I have become more proficient when it comes to speaking in public.

The skills that I have learned from this course are how to effectively communicate with others, proper body language, and most importantly, active listening. In this course I had to watch other students’ videos to respond to their assignments. I tend to listen to them very carefully in order to effectively respond back. Now these skills such as active listening and critical thinking before responding back have significantly helped me in my personal and professional relationships. Now I am able to stay calm during work meetings and share my ideas and thoughts. I am using these skills in my personal relationships which really eliminates most of the confusion that me and my partner used to have previously due to me not being able to express my feelings.

Active listening was something that I better understood from this course; as I mentioned above. I had to listen to other classmates’ recordings in order for me to reply back to them. We also had to take a listening skills quiz where my result came out as an analytical listener. Being an analytical listener means I will listen to the whole story before making any judgments. That quiz also revealed what areas I need to improve on to be great at active listening.
Openness is something that I learned from this course. I was able to share my thoughts answering the questions in the assignments. It helps stay clear about my ideas and it reduces any unnecessary confusion as the next person does not have to guess my thoughts.
Learning about body language was extremely useful. This course made it clear for me that not only verbal communication is important but also non-verbal communication. One person’s body language can indicate that you are interested in the conversation. I try to engage these skills to have an effective conversation with others. I make eye contact and try to keep a slight smile on my face, making sure I do not give other people any indication of me not being interested in talking to them.
Critical thinking skills I learned from this class were from reading other classmates’ discussion boards and analyzing it effectively to add more information to their discussion. I personally use this skill in situations where there are unclear motives. This encourages me to be curious and pursue a better understanding of a conclusion.