Free Essays on Communication

Men and Women communicate different when it comes to same sex conversation, which in turn my lead to communication problems, especially when it comes to marriage. Men (in general) don’t talk about one topic for a very long time. Men might talk about two or three topics, but women on the other hand can talk about one topic for hours on end. When men are listening to a friend’s problem are expected to offer a solution to the problem, or else what’s the point of mentioning the problem. When it comes to women they just want their problems heard, and someone just to listen, and not fix the problem. They simply want to vent their feelings. I recently read two articles, â€Å"His Talk, Her Talk†, and, â€Å"Man to Man, Woman to Woman,† which has to do with some of these problems. The first of the two articles that I read, which was, â€Å"His Talk, Her Talk,† was about Joyce Maynard, the author of the article’s experience with problems of communication. In her article she say’s that it wouldn’t be correct to think stereotypically in these modern times when it comes to men and women, as in men bringing home the money and food, while the women take care of their homes and cook the food. She believes there maybe a thing such as, â€Å"men’s talk,† or â€Å"women’s talk.† Joyce supports this by giving four examples. First, while at a party she notices that the two sexes divide themselves up because they find what their sex or group’s conversation much more interesting. Second, when her husband, Steve, arrived home from a bar she asks him, â€Å"What they had talked about,† in which he replies to â€Å"Oh, the usual..†¦ Firewood. Central America. Trucks. The Celtics. Religion.† That shows that she was hoping longer talk then that. Third, she shows us what women talk about by summarizing a conversation with her friend Ann and Ann’s frien... Free Essays on Communication Free Essays on Communication Men and Women communicate different when it comes to same sex conversation, which in turn my lead to communication problems, especially when it comes to marriage. Men (in general) don’t talk about one topic for a very long time. Men might talk about two or three topics, but women on the other hand can talk about one topic for hours on end. When men are listening to a friend’s problem are expected to offer a solution to the problem, or else what’s the point of mentioning the problem. When it comes to women they just want their problems heard, and someone just to listen, and not fix the problem. They simply want to vent their feelings. I recently read two articles, â€Å"His Talk, Her Talk†, and, â€Å"Man to Man, Woman to Woman,† which has to do with some of these problems. The first of the two articles that I read, which was, â€Å"His Talk, Her Talk,† was about Joyce Maynard, the author of the article’s experience with problems of communication. In her article she say’s that it wouldn’t be correct to think stereotypically in these modern times when it comes to men and women, as in men bringing home the money and food, while the women take care of their homes and cook the food. She believes there maybe a thing such as, â€Å"men’s talk,† or â€Å"women’s talk.† Joyce supports this by giving four examples. First, while at a party she notices that the two sexes divide themselves up because they find what their sex or group’s conversation much more interesting. Second, when her husband, Steve, arrived home from a bar she asks him, â€Å"What they had talked about,† in which he replies to â€Å"Oh, the usual..†¦ Firewood. Central America. Trucks. The Celtics. Religion.† That shows that she was hoping longer talk then that. Third, she shows us what women talk about by summarizing a conversation with her friend Ann and Ann’s frien... Free Essays on Communication In this article, entitled â€Å"Can We Talk,† author Tom Terez explores straight talk as a means to better communication. It is nearly impossible to get anything done in an organization without communication. In this article, Terez reviews five different organizations where unique communication practices are prevalent. Terez states, â€Å"When is the last time you and your colleagues, or your entire work unit engaged in open-ear, open-minded conversation?† My answer to this question would be daily, although this type of conversation is only held with other paralegals, not the attorneys. Usually conversation is a one way street, with the managers or boss’ giving directions and the employees obliging. There is little confrontation or questioning of orders that are given by my superiors. Of course, we paralegals talk amongst ourselves about how things need to change or how frustrated we become with tasks, but we have never openly conversed with the attorneys about these things. The organizations discussed in this article gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. PQ Systems is a business that starts every day with a morning gathering before their stressful day begins. The product manager at PQ Systems said, â€Å"It’s kind of like getting together for breakfast in a family.† These meetings appear to provide a feeling of unity in the workplace and often involve the sharing of critical ideas which otherwise would remain in the back of an individual’s mind. The ideas shared often lead to company missions that can be achieved through process-oriented goals and open communication. Another group talked about in this article is a neighborhood community in Madison, Wisconsin. To promote a healthy community, firefighters, nurses, librarians, park employees, building inspectors, police officers, and others gather and share their ideas, challenges and success stories about the community. The lessons learned can also apply to private-sector o... Free Essays on Communication â€Å"If you disobey me and leave, don’t plan on coming back anytime soon.† â€Å"I won’t, don’t worry about that!† I yelled back at my father as I swung open the door to my house for what would be the last time for a couple years. â€Å"Leave the key too,† he ordered, â€Å"Save me the trouble of changing the locks!† After I heard that, I turned and fired my key as hard as I could towards the door. By the time my eyes caught up to the where I had thrown it, I had struck him right between the eyes. The yelling and shouting stopped and I took off running to my friend’s house. The argument had been going on for the past three years. It was an ongoing struggle. Ever since I had been about fifteen or so, we had stopped talking all together. I had my own thoughts and views of the world and I was tired of having to listen to his two cents about everything. Since we did not talk, the only time we did would be during a fight. Yelling and shouting were our only forms of communication. It was if we would look to go pick a fight. What causes a father and a son to stop talking and communicating to each other? There are certain times in a man’s life, for example adolescence, where the son distances himself in order for the son to grow, but the expressing of eachother never comes back. Later, when the son has a son of his own, he is unable to communicate with his son because he was never able to with his dad. This cycle continues throughout history and replicates itself. Therefore, fathers and sons are unable to communicate and express their feelings with eachother. Two short stories show and depict the inability of fathers and sons to communicate effectively. The Old Man, by Larry King, shows the struggle between father and son. The Old Man is a â€Å"traditional†, â€Å"old fashion† man. This set a frame of reference that the Old Man had fallen victim to the cycle of Fathers and sons not communicating. The Old Man had strict morals and r... Free Essays on Communication Communication Culture helps mold communication and communication helps mold culture. With the two fueling one another, each is essential in both studies. In answer to the question â€Å"How does cultural anthropology contribute to the study of communication†, the answer is quite simple; without cultural anthropology on could not study communication. Communication is the passing of messages from one person, animal or even insect to another. It involves the eyes, body and movement of limbs. Language is a form of communication that is passed from generation to generation and consists of arbitrary symbols that may be written, spoken or signed. (Cultural Anthropology 2004:314) The study of communication is linguistic anthropology. It is a study devoted to communication in both humans and animals. (Cultural Anthropology 2004: 314) Understanding a group’s language and forms of communication requires a true understanding of the culture in which the groups being studied belongs to. Something such as silence can mean many different things depending on what culture is being studied. (Cultural Anthropology 2004:325) In one culture silence could indicate powerlessness such as in Siberian households, yet in North American courts the silent jury holds the most power. (Cultural Anthropology 2004:325-326) Dress and appearance also falls into this category. Long sleeves on a North American girl’s shirt could be just a current fashion trend, while in Japan the length of sleeve on a kimono (Japanese outfit similar to a long shirt or dress) shows gender, occasion and life cycle. (Cultural Anthropology 2004: 327) The long sleeves on the North American girl is making a fashion statement, yet on the Japanese girl is could be showing that she is unmarried and at a formal occasion. Ones body movements could be interpreted in many ways as well. The study of communication that occurs through body movements, positions, facial expressions an... Free Essays on Communication In today’s fast paced world we could all benefit from being better listeners. It seems most of our communication problems come from misinterpreting information. Some of the bad listening habits we seen to have include fraudulent and monopolistic listening. Also while we are supposed to be listening we sometimes complete, avoid, or attack before all the information has been presented. For whatever reasons many of us will nod and give the appearance of someone who is taking in the information given, when in fact we are listening at all. Although the fraudulent listeners may be hearing the information he/she is not putting forth the effort to comprehend and remember what it is he/she is hearing. Monopolistic listeners only want you to listen to them. They tend to be obsessed with their own thoughts and ideas and have no interest in anyone else’s. An interesting fact from the text states that men in male/female conversations initiated 94% of interruptions. These are two examples of ineffective listening that most people could benefit from improving on. Some other bad habits we’ve developed in the area of listening include completing gaps ourselves rather than asking fro the information from the source. This leaves everyone with the impression that all information was received as intended when that may not be the case at all. Avoiders seem to decide not to listen. No effort is given in order to comprehend and they usually do this because content of the information is undesirable to them. In regards to undesirable information, an attacker takes a slightly different approach than an avoider. The attacker will listen but only for a mistake or a point to argue. This is done to diminish the effectiveness of statement that’s information is undesirable to the attacker. As you can see a lot can go wrong while listening. There are many important skills in communication, such as, sending and receiving feedback appropriately,...