Hey guys, how the hell is everyone doing?
Welcome to my e-portfolio! Here I have included my works from my English 250 class at Iowa State University. You can navigate to different pages to check out my work by clicking on the tabs above labeled “About Me”, “Written”, etc.
Over the course of the semester, Hagan Whiteleather provided me with the tools in order to become an overall better communicator. One of the biggest things that changed in my writing strategy is thinking of many different thesis statements before starting my essays. I have learned that I like to analyze the options I have for topics, and decide on the one that I believe I can write the most about. For example, I felt that I would do a better job writing about the Death Penalty rather than Climate Change for my A5. Choosing the right topic has allowed me to set the right tone for my audiences that I know I can do a good job with. Another thing that I have improved on is my editing process. Once I know I have picked the right topic and finish my rough draft, I would usually just make sure I included all of the different aspects of the topic in order to deliver the message. During this course, I found myself also looking more at how my words flow when editing. I started to double check to make sure all my sentences sound correct and professional, because if they are not, then that hurts my credibility as a writer.
This course focused on four different methods of communication, which are written, oral, visual, and electronic (WOVE). Each method has its individual components, and I feel I am effective at using some of these individual components. Using written communication for example, I feel like I am very good at making sure the delivery of my paper is clean and smooth. In my opinion, as long as you sound professional in the delivery, people will not pay as much attention to the potential lack of ideas/context. Another method of communication is oral. Along with the written method of communication, I feel like I am very good at presenting myself in a professional, clean and smooth way. My biggest strength in oral communication is speaking loud and clearly, and in a way where I have the audiences attention, which might make up for a potential lack of context. The third method of communication is visual. Before this class, I never gave much thought to the detail of various pictures/advertisements. My biggest strength in this method of communication is how each component in the visual interacts with each other. For example, in my Visual Analysis (Reference the “Visual” tab above), I really emphasized how the completely vacant background in the picture made the centerpiece bed in the photo send a stronger message to its audience. The last method of communication is electronic. My electronic communication skills overall I feel are average. The main focus of this website is to be simple and straight to the point, to deliver my message in a non-distracting way.
Over the course of the semester, I have discovered that delivery is key to effective communication. This has also been one of the biggest challenges for me. I believe that if you focus enough time, energy, and practice to something, then challenges like effectiveness of delivery will be overcome. One specific example was my speech about a visual (Reference the “Oral” tab above). I hate public speaking, and I knew I was going to do bad if I did not work on getting better, so I did! I ended up receiving a 90% on my speech, where I would have usually receive a 75%-80% in the past.