Using Communication Skills to Enact Change

After reviewing The 7 Cs of communication I believe that the most important communication skills are to be clear and concise.  Clarity is very important because you need the person who is listening to you to understand you point and understand that point.  A speaker needs to be concise when addressing an audience especially when trying to prove a point and make others believe how important an issue is.

My own strength in communication comes from being clear and concise.  I feel that I am a very clear communicator when it comes to speaking to others about early childhood education and what I believe to be the best for our young children.  I am also very concise when I am speaking on the subject on early childhood education I make sure to stick to my point and explain my thinking.

What I need to work on in my communication skills my anxiety of meeting new people.  I know that when I am speaking to new people I come off as a very confident person who appears to be professional and have it all together.  Truth is I am freaking out on the inside.  There are so many thoughts going on in my head about my insecurities it's amazing I can make sense.

References

Mind Tools. (n.d.). The 7 Cs of communication: A checklist for clear communication. Retrieved October 15, 2013, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_85.htm

Social Media’s Influence on Policy Issues

           When thinking about what social media site I would use to help further the policy issue I would like to change, I would choose Facebook first.   This is because it is what I used the most in terms of Social Media.  I have many people on my friends list that that are early childhood professionals.  We often post information that is related to the field that we work in.  I would post about the policy change on my Facebook page.  This would be good not only for my friends that are in early childhood education but for my family and friends that have young children.  Then I would open a Facebook page just for the policy issue itself.  I would then send out invites to other to like the page that has been created.  The one issue that I can see this be a problem is that what if it does not reach enough people?

            The second page that I would use for social media would be Twitter.  I would use Twitter in much the same way that I would use Facebook.  First making tweets via my own page and then creating one for the policy change itself.  The problem with Twitter is how limited you are with what you can post on the site.

            Social Media is a good modern way to help spread the word about what you are doing and to effect change.  However, I honestly think that nothing beats meeting people in person and networking your ideas to others in the field.  You never know if you will meet the right person that will help you to effect change.