As I reflect on completing this Nonverbal Communication course, I find it interesting just how much valuable information I learned throughout the course. I thought I knew a considerable amount about Nonverbal Communication, but quickly found this was not the case. As the course progressed, I discovered more about my own nonverbal communication and how it affected my relationships. I began employing concepts, techniques, and strategies I was learning within my personal and professional interactions which certainly helped in several instances!
My Popular Press Analysis focused on the importance of nonverbal communication within the therapeutic context. I chose this focus because of the effects the Covid19 pandemic had on mental health and therapy. There is no doubt that the pandemic had a major impact on the mental health of many people and access to therapy became even more restricted considering the lock-downs and other mitigating circumstances. This was a challenge for many who rely on therapy as part of taking care of their mental health, myself included. Not being able to attend therapy face-to-face presented challenges in communication, especially when it came to nonverbal communication, for those who were lucky enough to be able to attend therapy through text or virtual means. Through my work on the PPA I learned just how little research there is on how nonverbal communication affects therapy face-to-face, let alone in a virtual environment.
Nonverbal communication will be a vital part of collaborating with clients in a therapeutic setting. As a prospective Resilience Coach, knowing how to accurately interpret a client’s nonverbal communication will help me guide clients through challenges and traumas. I will be able to notice cues that I may have missed before. In addition, as I will be assisting clients who will be sharing deeply personal and emotional information and/or experiences with me, I will need to be aware of my own nonverbal communication. My goal is to ensure an open, welcoming environment that inspires trust in vulnerability so I will need to be sure that my nonverbal behavior reflects that to my clients.
Completing the eP in this course has vastly improved my professional presence. First, the eP serves as a foundation for the future dedicated site for my coaching persona, The Curly Coffee Coach. Second, the eP furthers the branding that I have established through my professional social persona. Third, the eP has allowed both colleagues and acquaintances to become familiar with me, my work, and my goals as a prospective Resilience Coach.
I enjoy the animated version of my professional social persona, created for me by my younger sister. Her ability to capture my likeness so well speaks to her talent as a graphic artist. I believe that having it welcoming people to my eP creates a warm and inviting environment, which is crucial for establishing rapport and creating lasting relationships with prospective clients and partners.
I am also quite fond of the color scheme as it goes well with the logo, and is a very neutral, calm color palette. The olive-green tones reflect my sophistication while remaining down to earth while the pink highlights my vibrant yet nurturing nature. My eP is aesthetically pleasing with a clean, minimal theme and easy access to important information.
The most challenging part of the eP project was the website management and the plethora of choices involved. Between the theme, the color scheme, the fonts, the layouts, etc. there were so many decisions to be made. My anxiety got the best of me at certain times just trying to perfect every detail of the eP that I often forgot it did not need to be perfect right now. Taking the time to learn how to make edits within Wix, as compared to other programs I have used for website creation in work, was another challenge I faced.
I would recommend that future students start working on their eP as soon as they know one the professor requires one! There are so many components involved in building a professional eP. I would take a moment to narrow down the goal for the eP and who the audience is for the eP before starting to work on it. Everything done to the eP will revolve around these two factors. In addition, as the student makes edits, I encourage them to reflect on the answers to those two previous questions to make sure that all content aligned. If they were to leave working on the eP to the last minute, it will prove a daunting task.
Overall, this has been an incredibly informative course with content that will serve me well both professionally and personally.
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