Effective communication with diverse groups

            The people in my workplace, neighborhood, and family are a diverse group of people. Each day I converse with these various people to get things done and convey vital messages. At work, I interact with young children, African American, Mexican, and Jewish teachers and staff. Some of my family members are married to people who are of African American descent and some family members are atheist. I have older family members and every one of my neighbors in a 4 block radius are from the baby boomers generation.   

            I speak to these people in different ways and in ways that help to convey my messages best. I use the different ranges of my tone of voice often when I speak to children. Children respond to my tone well so I use it according to what I am telling the children. When I want to show that I am disappointed in a child or let them know that they should do something a different way, my tone lowers. When I am playful, celebrating them, or explaining something, my tone is higher. I also use a more cheerful and higher tone of voice when I am speaking to people whom I want something from or are trying to be convincing; including my parents, boss, and husband lol! I don’t necessary speak to people according to the specific group they belong to. I speak to them according to the unique person they are and how they receive messages. Some of the older people in my neighborhood are very different and receive the same messages differently. The women on each side of my house are both over 65 and are widowed. One has an A type personality, is organized, and rarely breaks her routine. You can always find her watering her plants at 5 am and 8 pm each day it doesn’t rain. I love talking to her about home designing tips and decor. My communication style is more conservative with her. I am more of a B type personality and I love learning from her about home organization and other things that help make my life easier since I tend to struggle in that department. My other neighbor is more laid back and goes out on dates all the time. When I talk to her, I know she will laugh at jokes that are a bit unacceptable and I have more fun with her. I have always felt that I am an old soul at heart and relate to the older generation of people better than my own generation.

My friends are my co-workers and family. I relate to my co-teacher in many ways yet we are opposites. We both advocate for young children and seniors. She is African American in her 50’s and has been in the child care business over 3 times longer than I have. I appreciate her knowledge and feel comfortable confiding in her about my personal life. I can be laid back with her and because she understands me I don’t have to explain myself often when I am trying to convey a message. She gets me. She is a lot of fun and speaks up for herself often. I am more quiet and avoid conflict so I like being close to someone who speaks the truth so often without fear of the repercussions or reactions. I learn from her about how to speak up more and get what you want. Most of what I feel safe speaking to her about I do not feel safe speaking to my boss about. My boss is more serious and does not chit-chat much. I am more reserved and professional around her. Most of our conversations are during meetings and through emails about work. When I am with my aunts, uncles, and parents, my behavior and communication style is a little more reserved and respectful of their expectations of me. When I am with my cousins, we cut up a little more and anything goes. I speak more professionally to my colleagues and teachers. More of my passions and goals about myself, child care, and the early childhood field come out in my communications with my teachers and classmates. I make sure to write more professional and formal emails when writing to them. These conversations include more vital information and my choice of communication is crucial to conveying the message I wish to get across. My classmates, co-workers and teachers often use words that relate to early childhood that no other people in my life know about or use.

I use words and styles of communicating differently depending on the people I am communicating with. This can be complicated and I will always be learning about how to do this skillfully. Here are some strategies I use to communicate effectively with different people:

1.      Pay close attention to behavior and non-verbal cues. How often are people making eye-contact and what do they do with their arms?  If someone is not making eye contact with you then they are telling you they are not interested in what you have to say. If they are crossing their arms then they are showing that they are protecting themselves and are more reserved to the conversation or group of people they are around.

2.      Be knowledgeable of yourself and your preferred style of communicating. Ask yourself if your tendency to speak the truth no matter what is good during an introduction meeting with the new families in your classroom. While I am meeting my new families during open house, I make sure to let my usually more reserved personality come out more so they can get to know me better.

3.      Research any information about the people you are about to have crucial conversations with so you are best prepared. This helps to get through some of those initial basic misunderstandings one may have about a certain group so that the more important messages get addressed.

Anyone use these strategies already or have improvements? Do you think these are truly effective for you?