This paper is a self-reflection of rhetorical sensitivity and communication competence. After much thought and reflection over my daily interactions, I feel that on the whole, I am a competent communicator. That’s not to say that I couldn’t improve in some areas of communication, but I feel that overall I communicate well.

To understand communication competence, we must first understand the three basic “rules” of competence as described in our textbook: Interplay The Process of Interpersonal Communication. First, “there is no single ‘ideal’ or ‘effective’ way to communicate”(p.19). This tells us that each interaction differs from others in content and relational aspects. Second, the book tells us that “competence is situational”(p. 22). This is the understanding that every situation is different, and likewise, you may act or react differently in any given situation. Third, that “communication competence can be learned”(p.21), this means that with education and self-reflection, one can learn to be a better communicator in situations that he or she would n

The next characteristic I would like to talk about is “self-monitoring”(p.23), which is the ability to watch one’s own behavior and adapt your behavior to fit the situation, context, and not offend anyone. This I feel I do pretty well. If I have a communication inadequacy, I can usually figure out why on my own and fix the problem. I think this characteristic has a lot in common with independence as a character trait.

The next characteristic I will review is “cognitive complexity”(p.23), which is the ability to look at an issue from many different angles of vision. My example for this is when, just recently, my boss at the station resigned. In my eyes, this is definitely not a good time for this to have happened. There are a lot of things going on at the station that only a person with his experience and know-how can handle correctly. I also have learned a lot from him, and hoped to learn more through the projects that we were all very excited about, and had planned to undertake very soon. On the other hand, he had to do what was best for him. He had been working two jobs, both in radio, and had been getting next to no sleep.

Some topics in this essay:
Interpersonal Communication, Rhetorical Sensitivity, communication competence, rhetorical sensitivity, competent communication, characteristics competent communication, characteristics competent, radio station, care deeply, communication feel,