During November I observed a lecturer that I have for one of my modules (on a different module of his) as I believe that he would be a good example of effective communication when delivering information to a group. I sat through a one hour lecture and took notes on what I thought was model communication that may help me in my role and wider life.
This lecture was online, not in person so it was interesting to see how he maintained good communication even through a screen and pre-recorded. The pace of the lecture made a significant difference to the impact of the communication. It didn’t seem to go too fast or too slow, which can sometimes hinder communicaton and also he made sure there was time for people to ask questions and to sum up what had been said. I found that this must be important during my mentor meetings and then also future communication as it ensures that everything is clear and creates an open space for questions. I think doing this in my peer mentor meetings, whether they are in person or on zoom will really benefit my meetings and allow my mentees to feel as though they have the option to ask questions and completely understand what it is being said.
One thing I found unhelpful for my circumstances and thought potentially inhibited the communication of the lecturer was his use of complex vocabulary. There is nothing worse than not understanding what it is someone is trying to say as it really does affect your understanding and the exchange of communication and in this case, the lecture contained some flowery language which was quite jarring. Although, upon reflection I can see that observing a lecturer may not be as helpful as observing another Peer mentor in one of their meetings due to the nature of the communication being totally different. Overall, I found the experience eye opening as I believe it will help me in the future as I train to be a teacher but in hindsight, I should have arranged more opportunities for observation of different types of communicators in order to expand my research and development.