Blog Post #5 - COMM 314 Final Blog Reflection

I think I improved my professional presence after completing the ePortfolio through making my page look visually appealing and including a picture of myself on the page. Another thing that I did was that I improved my contact information. I also improved my projects page by adding more of my projects that I’ve done in the past year. It’s been a while since I updated my ePortfolio so adding my recent works was much needed. What I like most about my ePortfolio is that it looks like something I would create rather than a template. I filled out most of the necessary information for it which makes it appealing for me. Another thing that I like is that I have something that I can send to future jobs to show them my writing skills and experience in writing papers and doing projects. The most challenging part of my ePortfolio is editing pages and making sure that they don’t look wonky and out of place. Despite this, Wix has made this experience easy for me to navigate through. My advice to future students about the ePortfolio is to make sure they watch the videos teaching them on how to make their website. These videos are really helpful and made my experience with the ePortfolio process easier. Without the videos, I would’ve had a difficult time and my ePortfolio wouldn’t look as clean as it does now. However, I advise them not to feel too pressured about making their ePortfolio perfect the first time as it is a process that takes some time to grasp. Once they get used to it, the process is a breeze and easy to understand. Another thing that I would advise future students is to keep their ePortfolio updated and post all of their papers and projects that are relevant to their career and major. I would suggest doing it as they go through each class so that they aren’t overwhelmed by the end of the semester or when they graduate. 

The component of this course that was the most interesting to me was learning how nonverbal messages can be communicated through objects and furniture. Learning that the shapes of tables and how they are organized can communicate different meanings was fascinating and something that I had never considered before. For my popular press analysis, I talked about the association of nonverbal behaviors and cues with deception. What I learned from the popular press analysis was that there are numerous nonverbal behaviors to identify lying. These behaviors include gestures, fidgeting, grooming, increase in pitch, shuffling of the feet, and more. I also learned that not many researchers believe that nonverbal behavior indicates deception. Prior to researching, I thought it was a commonly agreed topic that nonverbal cues detect lying. However, current research is shifting to agreeing that there is a relationship between deception and nonverbal behaviors.  Lastly, I learned how to find peer-reviewed scholarly sources and proper popular press articles through using the ODU library search engine. My chosen career is journalism. I want to write articles for news companies and possibly do broadcasting. I think this course would benefit me in my future career by helping me know when there could be more to a story, or worth the time to ask another question or push a little harder when interviewing people. Sometimes people could be hesitant and closed off to share information. Some might even fabricate stories, so learning about nonverbal communication will help me in identifying whether they are being truthful or not. Learning about body language not only helps with interviews but it could help me become a better journalist. It’s important that I use open and welcoming body language when talking to different people to establish trust and make them feel comfortable.