Dhamar Espinosa: Blog 1

Blog 1

Homer from The Simpsons walking backwards into bushes.

Group projects? Sign me up!

Okay, that’s a lie; I hate group projects. There is something about having to depend on others for that I simply do not love. However, I am fully aware that it is essential in most, if not all, careers and it is better to start learning and getting comfortable with having to deal and look past differences with your teammates, peers, and colleagues. Now, I know I said I did not like school group projects but put me out on a soccer field or any sports environment for that matter and even if I suck at the sport, I will give it my all, mostly because of my teammates. So that is how I like to trick my brain into feeling better about group projects. I must say, this was a good one. Once my group got past splitting the chapter into sections, it was easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Woman standing behind podium looking
around anxiously asking if the microphone
is on or if there even is a microphone.

My Personal Experience

Our group was in charge of Chapter 3 which was about Intercultural Communications and my section focused on the Potential Barriers that one could come across when entering a foreign environment or interacting with someone of a different culture. Because I was born in a different country, I could relate to a lot of these barriers, including anxiety, stereotypes, and, especially, incompatible communication codes. I also experienced many of these when I visited family in France. I made the anecdote of not seeing a single gas station in Paris despite the fact that they seem to have a very similar amount of transportation as we do here in the United States. That example falls under incompatible norms and values. Just because South Florida has two gas stations in one intersection does not mean that the same would be in other regions of the world. In the same topic, my boyfriend and I tried to find what gas stations in Miami would be to Paris and we came up with boulangeries. That is bakery in French. You could not walk more than ten feet without having a bakery in eyesight.

Regarding the actual presentation, it was what I was most nervous about. I feel extremely uncomfortable with public speaking. I really liked the fact that we were the first group to present. Even though we had less time to prepare our PowerPoint, we got to get it over with quicker. A goal of mine was to not read straight off the slide, and I forced myself by putting less words. I think I did a pretty good job at that; however, listening back, I think I should probably slow down my talking. I am a pretty fast talker and it definitely transferred over to my presentation. 

Woman plopping down onto couch with a satisfied look on her face.

Being a Part of the Audience 

I really enjoyed getting to sit back and relax for the following two classes but most importantly being able to learn from my peers and the research they had done.

Group 2 was in charge of Chapter 9. This chapter focused on Communicating in Groups. One of my favorite parts of this presentation was the very first video about different type of families. I feel as though this is a video that is appropriate for all ages. In today’s day and age, families come in all shapes and sizes, and this video may help a child who coms from a non-traditional family feel as though they are not as different as their peers. I liked the examples that were given so the audience had a better understanding of certain terms, such as using a band as a representation of an interdependent group. I was happy to see that Virtual Groups and Conflict was a part of this chapter and I found it very interesting and relevant in how things have changed in the recent years due to COVID-19.  

Group 3 did Chapter 10 and that was about Group Leadership and Problem Solution. I think this group in general had the least amount of writing in their slides, which I found fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed being able to listen to them elaborate on the bullet points on each slide, rather than just following the words as they read it off the PowerPoint. One of their portions was Leadership, which I think it is such an imperative position to have. It can vary from being the leader of a country to being the leader of a small team. It is such a difficult job to be able to delegate and trust your peers that they are doing right by you and the rest of the folks in that group whether it be a micro or macro team. This group had very insightful and educational videos that reinforced the points they had just given.

Aside from the other two groups, I was also a part of the audience for my own group in a way. I only had a small portion, so it was nice being able to listen to their parts of the chapter. I think we needed to become a bit more comfortable with our topics enough to not have to read everything off the slide, but we also had some great illustrations and videos that helped bring our points across.

Conclusion

Different people communicating with one another.

Overall, I think all the groups did an amazing job educating and exemplifying the main viewpoints of the chapters. I loved that everyone had great visuals and educational videos. Some factors that every group needs to improve on is probably not reading every single word off the slides. It is so much more interesting when the speaker is able to pass on to the audience the facts of what they are saying, but also when it sounds like they are having a conversation with you. This can be done by adding stories from their personal lives or even in the words they choose to use. Another one would be turning on the cameras. Being online, classes already feel less interactive and when the person who is speaking is not showing their face, it almost feels like you are just listening to a recording rather than a live presentation. Personally, I think this project was a great start to the semester and an amazing first step of future presentation out in the work field.