Letter to Cousin

Dear Keri,

I hope things are going well for you. It has been a while since we have had a chance to talk. I recently returned to school and am working towards a degree in Communication Studies. As somebody who is Deaf, I imagine you have even deeper insights into the importance of communication, since verbal communication within a hearing world takes more thought and effort on your part.

I am taking a particularly interesting class on technical and professional communication. To better understand the topic, I visited this site: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-professionalism-in-communication-definition-skills.html. I see you as kind of a spokesperson for Deaf Culture and I know you have found ways to effectively communicate with people within the culture, but have used these platforms to educate hearing people about Deaf Culture and the issues and discrimination you face on a daily basis.

If you had a chance to click on the link, you would find that professional communication encompasses a lot of mediums: it can be face-to-face communication, emails, websites, phone calls, texts, and even graphic art can be facets of professional communication. The purpose of professional communication is to communicate effectively with others in a professional setting.

For professional communication to be effective, it needs to be clear and concise. As you have surely discovered in your YouTube Vlogs, every word counts. Likewise, when sending a written message, usually through email, it is paramount that the writer proofreads the message. Any written communication that is filled with errors will not be taken seriously.

Of course, as someone who is deeply attuned to nonverbal cues, you are very aware that what is not directly communicated is sometimes more important than the words that are written or spoken. In face-to-face communication in a professional setting, it is important that you speak clearly and to the point. When a speaker takes too informal a tone, it can appear that they are seeking approval instead of taking a stance. You might want to visit this website for more reading on informal communication and the danger that can come from that: http://fortune.com/2011/09/22/the-way-you-talk-at-work-like-matters-you-know/.

Similarly, in all written communication, there are aspects of the communication that cause people to come to conclusions, so it is important to take stock in the visual appearance of the correspondence. For instance, when you are posting to a professional blog, it is a good idea to have a professional design and image that supports your message instead of distracts from it. If you are part of a company, it is important that the visual brand is considered on all visual communication.

So, Keri, as you continue to rise as a voice of Deaf Culture, I hope you find some of what I am learning about professional communication to be useful. Good luck!


Your cousin,

Emily Heaton

Comments

  1. karleejoSeptember 7, 2017 at 11:54 AM

    I really liked your post, I thought you defined things very clearly. I liked how you made your post applicable to your cousin and her life. You took something you knew she would be passionate about and connected what you're learning to what she uses in her daily life. It was also a really interesting perspective by applying it to Deaf Culture, which is a perspective I had not really thought about before.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chris DebenhamSeptember 7, 2017 at 7:18 PM

    The connection with your cousin Keri about communication feels natural and relevant. I enjoyed the linked articles but recommend considering hyperlink use instead of full URL's. I feel a sense of optimism and care in your tone that isn't over the top and adds to the message of the letter.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflection on Social Media Case 1: McDStories

Image
Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Sometimes even a big company like McDonald’s can make an innocent mistake that has some costly consequences. In 2011, McDonald’s had the idea to create two hashtags to promote their company. The first one, #MeetTheFarmers, was to show consumers that the food was fresh and to make the farmers a big part of the company. The second hashtag, #McDStories, had the intention to get people to share good stories and memories of McDonald’s, but instead it had the opposite effect. People shared horrible experiences, such as the ones listed on Business Insider “-- Dude, I used to work at McDonald's. The #McDStories I could tell would raise your hair.” I think McDonald’s didn’t think through this idea. Obviously, people love McDonald’s. It is a multi-national, multibillion dollar business. But surely, they had to think that there are people who have had bad experiences there. It is fast-food. In a case study of this event published here , it p
Read more

Reflection on Social Media Case 9: Ponderize

Image
Ethics can be a tricky thing when it comes to Social Media. Let’s take the example of the Durrant family and the Ponderize scandal. It went down like this: Elder Devin Durrant, a general authority in the Mormon Church gave a talk and coined a new phrase, “Ponderize” which is the combination of the words “ponder” and “memorize.” Members of the church were moved by the talk in general conference, and conveniently, there was a website selling shirts with “Ponderize” for sale immediately during the break. Who was selling the t-shirts? Well, it was Elder Durrant’s son, Ryan. Apparently, he set up the webpage about a week before General Conference. It didn’t take long for people to start complaining that Ryan and Elder Durrant were trying to use Elder Durrant’s position in the church for their own financial gain. According to Wikipedia, I think this could kind of be considered spiritual opportunism , or using religion as a path toward personal gain. Since Elder Durrant got to c
Read more

New Technology Assignment

Image
New technology is coming that has the ability to protect the privacy of social media users: Blockchain. Blockchain is basically an encrypted online wallet that users can set up to verify to companies that they are who they say they are, all while keeping that information secure and out of the hands of anyone who shouldn’t have access to it. Currently, Blockchain is being tested for financial transactions, but I see it being useful for any kind of transactions. While this technology is not quite perfected yet, a lot of companies are investing in the technology because we are in somewhat of a privacy crisis. Within the last few months there have been huge security breaches concerning online data, with the biggest example being Facebook’s recent case where they sold data to Cambridge Analitica, who then used that data to target unsuspecting users with fake news and other malicious information. This kind of data breach can have huge impacts on politics, safety, and th
Read more