iExamen 2 :Defining Communicator

Gabriella Gizzo                                                                                               10/23/12

Understanding Literature                                                                                iExamen 2

Defining Communicator

            The definition of a communicator is a person that relates to other people through verbal and symbolic expressions.  Communicators relate to people by talking, smiling, performing gestures, and through technology (Facebook, texting, twitter and email).  Every day, we communicate these skills everyday to people.  This should be easy because most of the time it is the same form of communication being conveyed to the same people.  However, it isn’t always easy because of the perception of the communication. The actual context can have a huge impact on the other person.

            As a result, of these huge impacts we must be more aware of how people perceive the message that we are communicating.  We must be in touch with other people’s feelings and perceive it from their perspective.  This iExamen 2, allowed me to be in touch with my own forms of communication and realize how the actual message is being perceived. 

            The iExamen 2 made me communicate words with 3 conditions: it had to be kind, useful and true.  I actually did this iExamen when I went home (New York) for fall break.  On Saturday, I only spoke to my friends and family under those conditions.  In the beginning, my family didn’t notice a change because I speak generally in those terms.  However, when I saw my friends they noticed a change because they were wondering why I wasn’t being sarcastic or teasing them.  I explained to my friends the purpose of the assignment and they thought it was really interesting because they couldn’t believe that a skill we use every day is so hard to control and we use in the opposite terms.  We should be speaking to people in those 3 conditions everyday, but we often overlook those terms and speak in other ways.  I thought it was funny how one of my friends tried to do it for a portion of the night, but couldn’t maintain those 3 conditions for the whole night.

            One of the most interesting parts of this paper was the change I noticed in the use of technology.  I have a Facebook and twitter account.  I only wrote things that were in reference to those conditions.  Also, this iExamen made me more aware of the message that people were sending with their Facebook posts or tweets on twitter.  I think it made me realize all the different ways people can interpret one message.  It also made me think about what if all the Loyola students in an English class had to do this assignment, and then you would see a drastic change in communication on campus and in their ways of technology.

            Overall, I think my communication was different because it was more intuitive and slower.  This assignment forced me to stop and think about what I was going communicate.  It was a really reflective process.  On the other hand, my communication process is usually fast past because I am from New York and going, so it is easy for me to say or do things quickly and not fully realize how someone else views the situation.  This assignment gave me a totally new outlook of the true meaning of communication.

            In conclusion, I thought this iExamen was going to be easier because I do try to be aware of how speak to others.  However, I learned that it goes deeper because it connected to the messages by your speech, Facebook posts and your tweets.  It reminded me how much our words impact others.