Selecting a Communication Goal

Instructions (Please complete both Part 1 and Part 2 below using the Template in the required resources)
Part 1 (of two parts due in Week One)
This course is about communication, and this project is about communication. Take some time to think about challenges you have when communicating with other people. These difficulties may involve . . .
patterns with strangers or acquaintances.
communication aspects with friends.
interactions with family members or colleagues.
Here are some examples:
Trouble starting a conversation with someone you have never met.
Saying "no" when your friend asks to borrow money.
Fear of speaking out during a meeting.
Note: all examples are based on verbal and nonverbal communication challenges. Please make sure your choices are related to communication challenges you have.
Steps 1A – 1E will guide you through the process of narrowing your communication challenge options in order to select the one challenge you want to address during Weeks One through Three.
1A. "I Can't" List
The 1A list consists of six communication challenges you face. Under each of the six challenges, you will write two paragraphs (use the template to organize these six sections). So, what are your potential challenges?
Note: a paragraph is usually a minimum of four to five sentences.
Consider the following: verbal and nonverbal communication, listening, group communication, and communication across cultures.
Click on and read the sample list below. Then, write and submit the following for 1A:
Challenge 1:
Description:
Example:
Challenge 2:
Description:
Example:
(Continue pattern for all six challenges)
Sample List
I can't ask my friends for favors when I need their help.
I can't discipline my daughter without becoming angry.
I can't say "no" when my boss asks me to work overtime.
I can't address employees directly or clearly when corrective action is needed.
I can't stop coming across as sarcastic in my conversations with others.
I can't keep my staff focused on the discussion at hand during meetings.
I can't accept constructive criticism without becoming defensive.
Sample Description
Challenge 1: "I can't say no to a family member if he or she asks for my help."
Description: Unless I have a really good excuse, I can't say no when a family member asks me to do something. Even though I often feel like I am being taken advantage of, I still feel obligated to help. Our family is very close, and we do a lot of things for each other, but my family members tend to ask me to do the things that nobody else wants to do or is willing to do. It has become expected that I will do the things that others will not.
Example: Last week, I used a vacation day and cancelled personal plans on two separate days to tend to family business. On Tuesday, I took my grandmother to the doctor for an outpatient surgical procedure because my mother had an important business meeting that day. On Saturday, I cancelled a dinner with old friends to look after my three-year-old niece so that my brother and sister-in-law could celebrate their anniversary.
1B. "I Won't" List
From the six challenges you recorded in 1A, which ones do you know you could change, but you just “won’t” change? Only you can determine your emotional commitment to changing the communication challenges you listed in 1A. So, which ones “won’t” you change?
In 1B, you will decide which of the six from your list in 1A really belong in the 1B “I Won’t” list. Under each challenge you selected from 1A to put on this list in 1B, write a paragraph explanation of why it is more accurate to say the challenge is an “I Won’t” rather than an “I Can’t”.
The challenges you put in 1B won’t end up as your 1E challenge because the "I won't" aspect indicates your unwillingness to actually make a change.
1C. "I Don't Know" List
In 1A, you listed six challenges. In 1B, you acknowledged that some of the six challenges on the list you won’t be changing right now. So, the rest of the challenges in your 1A list need to go in your 1C section of “I Don’t Know How” to change these communication challenges. This course is designed to help you learn how to address those challenges.
Here is an example of a 1A challenge becoming a 1C challenge:
In 1A, you might have written, "I can't keep my staff focused on the discussion at hand during meetings,"
Now, in 1C, you will write, "I don't know how to keep my staff focused on the discussion at hand during meetings."
You will change out I can’t for I don’t know how! Click on the Sample Response below.
Sample Response
"I don't know how to say no to a family member asking for my help" might sound strange to some. Of course you know how, you just say "no." In reality, however, saying no may not be that easy, or it may not be your natural response. In addition, you may not recognize that there is a time for "yes" and a time for "no" and part of rectifying this communication behavior is establishing criteria by which you evaluate the appropriateness of saying yes or no given the circumstances. Then, you develop the necessary skills, language, and so forth to say no effectively.
The "I don't know how" challenges in your 1C list are the challenges you will consider for your 1E communication challenge goal. You will select one of the 1C challenges as your 1E goal. You will be working on that 1E communication challenge goal during Weeks Two and Three.
Under each 1C challenge, write a paragraph explaining why, at this present time, you don’t know how to change that communication challenge in your own life.
1D. Issue Selection
For the CCC, you will select one of your 1C challenges as your project focus. That project focus will be stated in 1E, but in 1D, you will write a paragraph explaining the elimination process. Please explain why you didn’t select some of the challenges listed in 1C, and why you settled with the one challenge you will be making your 1E communication challenge goal.
1E. Project Statement
In one sentence, write the challenge from 1C that will become your communication challenge goal. You will be working on this chosen communication challenge during Weeks Two and Three.
Note: It is important that you will be able to enact this change in Week Three. If there is no opportunity in Week Three to enact this change, then please select another 1C challenge to become your 1E communication challenge goal.
Do NOT make 1E a paragraph long – just a one-sentence statement, please.
Like this . . . For my project goal, I have selected “I don’t know how to . . . “
Sample Project Statement
For my project goal, I have selected "I don't know how to say no when my brother asks to borrow money."
Part 2 (of two parts due in Week One)
In order to gain further understanding regarding the communication challenge you have selected, you will need to do some research to find an outside scholarly source (in addition to the textbook) that addresses your 1E challenge. Once you have located that source and read it, summarize the source and share how the information within the source has provided insight into the strategies that can help address your 1E challenge.
Continue utilizing the template as you complete Part 2.
Begin with the title of the source.
The first paragraph beneath the title will summarize the source.
The second paragraph will explain how the information in your chosen source has provided guidance or insight.
End with a full APA citation on the references page
You will be submitting Part 1 and Part 2 as one document that begins with a title page and ends with a References page.
Writing Requirements (APA format)
Length: minimum of 4 pages (not including the title page or the references page) no maximum page count.
1-inch margins
Double spaced
12-point Times New Roman font
Title page
References page (minimum of 2 sources)