A Critical Analysis of My Strengths and Weaknesses

A Critical Analysis of My Strengths and Weaknesses in the aptitudes of Assertiveness Assertiveness enables us to act in our own surpass interests, to stand up for ourselves without undue anxiety, to exercise personal rights without denying the rights of others, and to express our feelings honestly and comfortably (Alberti & Emmons, 2008). Within social communication, the skill of wieldion is absolutely vital it is a skill we atomic number 18 constantly utilising either consciously or unconsciously.Through nurturing the skill of self-assertiveness a person may hurl fruitful relationships with family, friends, peers, superiors and subordinates (Rakos, 1997) based on honesty and equality. The skill of Assertiveness shadower be viewed in variantly within diverse cultures, for warning in the highly extraverted, expressive and individualistic culture that is apparent in America Assertiveness is a particularly important, if non essential skill.However in the much much reserved a nd introverted culture of Britain more emphasis is placed on interpersonal sensitivity, being a rewarding partner and the use of non-verbal signals (Forgas, 1985). The skill of argument has 9 main functions, these include helping individuals to ensure that their personal rights are non violated, fill reasonable requests of others, recognise the personal rights of others, avoid unnecessary truculent conflicts and confidently, and openly communicate their position regarding either issue (Hargie, 2009).Assertiveness is a skill that is learned and training is available for those who may line up it hard to assert their feelings within a social context. Assertiveness is a great skill to possess however there are times when an assertive response may in fact be the least responsive, in such times a non assertive or passive response may be what is required. The different levels of response are displayed well by the continuum which ranges from Non Assertive Assertive Aggressive.In mo st instances people should aim to catch ones breath as close to assertive on the continuum as possible, as this promotes both standing up for yourself whilst alike taking the other persons views into consideration. As a result of my Assertiveness practical(a) I found myself to be just smallly towards the more non-assertive side of the continuum. I was rather pleased with this result as I did not want to be positioned withal close to aggressive or non assertive.Throughout the Assertiveness Practical I had a number of Strengths which were outweighed by quite a number of Weaknesses, this is natural as Rakos stated Assertion is a learned skill, not a trait that a person has or lacks. An area passim the practical in which I was strong was Gesturing, upon analysing my video I found my gestures to be smooth and fluid, I feel this conveyed a non-verbal message that I was calm within the situation. Accentuating your message with appropriate gestures fag end channel emphasis, openne ss and warmth.A relaxed use of gestures can add depth or power to your messages (Alberti & Emmons, 2008). Another area which analysing my practical revealed I was strong was Paralanguage this can include an individuals rate of speech, intensity, tone and volume. I found the tone of my verbalise to be conversational but not overly friendly and I felt this was perfect for the situation, the other people winding in the practical commented on the intensity of my voice being quite firm but not intimidating as the still felt comfortable.This is quite an important aspect of being assertive as a Kimble and Seidel study showed that those who spoke with a supreme conversational tone where perceived as being confident and therefore more likely to work a more adequate answers (Richmond & McCroskey, 2000). Analysing my practical led me to see that I excelled in complex carry on assertion, most notably the use of embellishments. Embellishments lessen the social risk whilst having a intellig ence with someone, however if they are used too much they can be seen as false and can dilute a persons argument. I was particularly well versed in the use of both valuate and Empathy.An example of this in my practical was when the woman, who was trying to return a phone which was out of warranty verbalise you must understand where Im coming from in response to this I said of head for the hills I do Miss X, I was in your position just over a year ago before I began to work here and you are handling the situation much wear out than I did. The woman who prior to this piece of dialogue was getting rather agitated seemed to calm put down and come to terms with what I was trying to explain. Hargie states that empathic assertion conveys sensitivity to the other person therefrom allowing that person to feel understood and not undermined.Although I had a number of Strengths throughout my practical I overly had quite a few weaknesses which are illustrated by my personal assertivenes s inventory denounce which was +9, although the class average was +2, my score still showed that I can be assertive but find it quite difficult. One of the weaknesses I noticed was that I failed to keep eye contact with the person in my practical this was a major flaw and undoubtedly hindered my assertiveness. At quite regular intervals, namely when the discussion was getting a bit heated, I tended to look at the desk in front of me rather than counseling on the other person.Gaze aversion is typically an intentional act, you may be unsure of yourself and do not want him/her to see it in your eyes (Richmond & McCroskey, 2000). This was probably the case in my practical, I was unfamiliar with the effrontery situation and felt that I was out of my depth thus I avoided eye contact I can today see that this was a critical mistake. The second major flaw that I had involved my body posture, upon analysing the practical I realised that during our entire interaction my body was never dir ectly go about the other persons.When talking to another person, notice how much more personal the conversation becomes with a slight turn of the shoulders and torso toward the other person, this suggests confidence and openness to the conversation at hand (Alberti & Emmons, 2008). I now realise from my practical I was portraying quite a defensive posture, thus not pose the other person at ease whilst talking to me. Also from a defensive posture it is a lot harder to be assertive as the other person is likely to already have a certain prejudice about you.My final and most glaring weakness was overuse of the broken present approach, after analysing my practical session I realised that I used the phrase I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do a staggering amount of times. This is not a good tactic to employ as it can frustrate the other person, it can also dilute the argument and take away the relevance of what you are saying. Persistence should not be entangled with the broken record method, be fair with others and keep after them until theyre fair with you (Alberti & Emmons, 2008).Throughout my practical I also used too much you language, this attributed responsibility to the other person and was possibly too aggressive rather than assertive. In conclusion I feel that as a whole my assertiveness practical was a success there are a number of areas in which I can improve vastly such as posture and eye contact. However I feel that I did do extremely well in a few areas, these being gesturing and embellishments. Jim Rohn once said every(prenominal) time we speak we choose one of the four basic communication styles assertive, aggressive, passive and passive aggressive.This quotation helps me to illustrate that our learning of the skill of Assertion is continuous, throughout this practical research I have realised that Assertiveness is a great facet of an individuals personality, and when used right can be an outstanding tool. When a person has mastered the s kill they will know when to be assertive, whom to be assertive with and with what intensity to put their message across (Journal of Communication, Volume 19, Issue 03, Pages 257-265). In a minority of places where ethnic sensitivity is raw assertion may be deemed somewhat wreck less.Nevertheless, assertion that accommodates cultural norms is an accepted communication style and is widely used the world over. (Hargie, 2002) References Alberti, R. and Emmons, M. (1975) Stand Up, Speak Out, Talk choke The Key to Assertive demeanor. Pocket Books, New York Alberti, R. and Emmons, M. (2008) Youre Perfect Right, Assertiveness and Equality in Your liveliness and Relationships. Impact, San Luis Obisopo American Communication Journal, Volume 10, Issue 01, Spring 2008. Forgas, J. (1985) Interpersonal Bahaviour The Psychology of Social Interaction. Hargie, O. , Dickson, D.Skilled Interpersonal Communication, Research, guess and Practice, 7th edition. Routledge, London. Chapter 11. Journal of Communication, Volume 19, Issue 03, Pages 257-265, September 1969 Knapp, M. and Vangelisti, A. (2006) Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships. Allyn and Bacon, Texas Rakos, R. (2006) Assertive Behaviour Theory, Research and Training. Routledge, London. Richmond, V. and McCroskey, J. (2000) NonVerbal Behaviour in Interpersonal Relationships, Allyn and Bacon, Texas The Electronic Journal of Communication, Volume 13, Number 4 2003. Townend, A. (2007) Assertiveness and Diversity. Palgrave, Basingstoke.