Me as a communicator

         When it came to my personal results from the exams that I took, I was not really in the least surprised. I like to think that I am a very self aware person and know both my strengths as well as my shortcoming that could use some work. Being that I am constantly cognizant of these traits I believe that this leads me to have a better idea at what my results would yield, and I was correct.
    
       I did find that my husband thought that I had more anxiety with public speaking than I honestly really do. I am not sure why he felt this way, but it was only marginally higher than my score, but it did bump me from the lowest score (mine was 21) to a 34. It was significant enough difference to change what category I was in. When I asked him about it, he said he had a difficult time answering questions that had to do with the physical effect that one can get when speaking in public or in groups. This could have skewed the results to show to him I have a higher anxiety than I truly believe that I do. My co-worker who took the test was exactly online with my answers, except we were just a number or two off on the verbal aggression. She actually had me as less than I had myself.
 

Communication

The one person that I would like to emulate as a model for positive communication skills is my mother. I say this because she is a person who can go into any situation and feel confident that she can convey her thoughts aloud to anyone be it a group or one-on-one. She is a secretary for the state, and she communicates with everyone from students, to custodial staff, interns and resident/researching doctors. She has this amazing ability that makes everyone instantly comfortable and willing to talk with her no matter their station. She also has an eloquence about her that allows her to not just be able to speak with but actually carry out intellectual conversations with people with far more "education and status" that she has in the world. However, she can also talk to the "peons" of the world and not make them feel insufficient or uneducated compared to how she speaks! It truly is amazing.
She is also someone who when she asks questions (personal or not) she actually cares and wants to her the answers to what they have to say. She isn't one to just make polite conversation because it is the right thing to do in our society. She actually takes a genuine interest in what is being told to her, even if she doesn't fully understand the context (like some of the research the doctors are doing) but she listens and asks more questions to try to clarify.
My mom also has this ability to speak to people who are angry or unreasonable and help them to see they are being unruly. She speaks to them in a way that she actually drops her voice to a lower octave and speaks slower in a calm soothing manor. She works a personal mediator between my father and I who don't always see eye to eye and can come out in a yelling match. When I was younger and living at home this was a serious problem, but my mom was always able to handle the situation, I have NO idea how she did it. When I am upset or mad I call her and she is somehow able to look at situations from different angles and show me different perspective or talk me through different situations because of this ability. 

YES!! She is someone that I try  to model in my everyday life, and remember how she would feel if I communicated something in a negative way. If she is unhappy with the way I might handle something (communication wise) I would rethink my response or actions.