Using Communication Skills to Enact Change

When leading policy change two important communication skills that are important to embody are being clear about what you want and giving concrete information.  

According to Helpguide.org (n.d.), when you are communicating clearly you are minimizing the number of ideas that are in a sentence, which makes it easier for the person that you are communicating with to understand what you are saying. By communicating clearly you are also giving the other person clear information that they can use to continue the conversation or to take action if necessary. They do not have to "read between the lines".

“When your message is concrete, then your audience has a clear picture of what you're telling them” (Helpguide.org, n.d., p. 1). By giving them a clear picture you are providing them with direct knowledge of what you are doing. This can also prove that you are not only knowledgeable but that you also have a clear picture of what needs to be done or said. It can also prove that you know what you are doing in the field and make you more creditable.

            Some of my own communication strengths include being able to communicate coherently and providing a complete message so that whomever I am talking to can have a very clear picture of what I am saying. This only goes towards small groups or when I am talking one-on-one, when I am in a large group I am an introvert. This is based on the Communication Anxiety Inventory. I need to work on talking in front of large groups if I want to work to change the current policies in the early childhood field, to make the field better.

Reference

Helpguide.org. (n.d.). Effective communication. Retrieved October 15, 2013,

fromhttp://www.helpguide.org/mental/effective_communication_skills.htm

Social Media’s Influence on Policy Issues

To communicate my policy issue I would use Facebook and Twitter. 

I would use Facebook because it not only allows me to share pictures, it also allows me to share what they call notes. Notes are any post that are over a certain amount of words. It also allows me to be selective of who sees what. I can also start a private group page that could be just for parents. Parents could use the group page to talk to each other or as a source of support from other parents. They could ask questions about things that they may need more information on or help with. I could also use Facebook to share resources with families with links directly to them. There are also a lot of agencies that provide resources that I found parents to be in need of on Facebook.

Twitter has a maximum of a 160 characters that can be posted at a time, this would be a challenge and limit the information that could be shared. Twitter would be good to update families about things that are happening in the community on any given day. It could also be used to ask questions and answer them. It would also be good to give links to other agencies or websites that could be of help to families.

Out of the two I would use Facebook the most because it gives me the freedom to do more and to post detailed information, pictures and live links to other Facebook pages and websites. For example I could write an article on community resources and within the article I can place live links to the resources website and their Facebook page. So if someone was to click on the link,  the link would take them directly to the resources website/Facebook page.