Discussion Forms of Communication As a career professional, we want to evaluate our available channels of communication giving consideration to several factors: situation, purpose of the message, audience/receiver, organizational culture, and desired tone/level of formality. We’ve examined advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face, phone, Instant Message, teleconferencing, video conferencing, social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.), texting, written/paper, and e-mail communication for personal and professional communication. Consider the following questions as they relate to the profession you are pursuing : State the profession you intend to enter and then answer the following: State the profession you intend to enter one you earn your degree.In general, which channel of communication do you think is the preferred channel for most communication among those in your chosen profession? Why?Is there a channel of communication that you believe should NOT be used in your profession? Why?Briefly describe a situation in which some form of electronic communication (phone/voicemail, IM, social media, texting, email, etc.) would be a better channel than face-to-face communication in your future career, and explain why that channel would be preferred.Briefly describe a situation in which face-to-face communication would be better than any other channel of communication in your future career, and explain why face-to-face would be preferred. Assignment # 1 Having a professional answering message on your phones is important to your image. Something else you can do now to improve the image you portray is to establish a professional email address. If you do not have an email address which looks professional, we encourage you, as part of this week’s assignment, to create one. Finally, review your Social Media channels for content that wouldn’t reflect well on your professionalism. This article – 10 Hiring Red Flags to Avoid (Links to an external site.) – reinforces these same topics and several more. assignment this week: Make sure your outgoing voicemail message (the one that callers hear when you don’t answer your phone) is professional on your home and mobile phones.Clean-up content on social networking sites that instructors, Career Services, or future employers might visit.Create a professional e-mail address. (If you already have a professional email address, you don’t need to create a new one.)Gmail is one of the most commonly used free email services. If you need to create a professional email address, go to www.Gmail.com (Links to an external site.). Professionals strongly suggest using your name for a professional email address, for example:Jane.Smith@Gmail.com. When you setup your account, it will inform you if the name combination you select is available. If your first choice is not available, try different combinations (J.Smith@, JSmith@, Jane.S@, etc.) Begin using your professional email address from now on when communicating with the school, peers, Career Services, and with others professionally.Once you have completed steps 1 through 3, write a substantial paragraph or two detailing what action(s) you took for EACH of the three elements above (voicemail, social media, and email address), and explain why you did so. If you believe your social media, email address, and outgoing voicemail messages are already professional, submit a detailed paragraph explaining why you believe EACH is already professional. Assignment # 2 For our Week 6 Virtual Field Trip, go to TED.com (Technology, Entertainment, Design – a nonprofit organization devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’) and watch the following talk by Sherry Turkle about how technology is affecting the way we communicate. http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_toget… (Links to an external site.) Consider the role technology plays in the way you communicate and your expectations for connection with others. Do you agree with Turkle’s point of view? Are there parts of her message that resonate with you? Post one thought about Turkle’s presentation or about the ways that technology influences your own communication.