TCR 5060 - Week 2 Post - Emotional Intelligence as a Route to Audience Achieved

“Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others, our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection—or compassionate action.” Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

       While Ede/Lunsford’s work suggests that knowing your audience is one of the most essential and difficult aims in writing, I feel it is more difficult to teach certain competencies associated with emotional intelligence, including empathy (being able to see from another’s perspective and care), creative problem solving/innovative thinking, and communicating clearly and effectively. All of these things are essential to reaching an audience, engaging that audience to action. According to Kano, K (n/d), “emotional intelligence skills [are] foundational for predicting leadership success.” What is exciting to me is the reality that emotional intelligence can be taught. Many elements make up emotional intelligence. The question then becomes, which component of emotional intelligence do we begin with teaching? In the case of better understanding audience and creating innovative and meaningful arguments to reach an audience, one might begin with teaching empathy. Readings, activities, and assignments geared toward face-to-face interactions or putting oneself in another’s shoes might be the order of business. When setting out to teach anything surrounding emotional intelligence, we must first look to the originator of the term emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman. He has spent an extensive amount of time identifying the characteristics and qualities of emotional intelligence, specifically in relation to their importance within higher education and industry. In focusing in on empathy, we might consider the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oQxFUo9zfM Daniel Goleman outlines various kinds of empathy which are key components of emotional intelligence:

• Cognitive Empathy
  • I understand how you think about things
  • taking the other's perspective
  • downside - if only have cognitive empathy they can manipulate you
• Emotional Empathy
  • I feel with you, feel your distress
  • critical for leadership to create rapport
  • downside - dealing with pain you can burnout
  • emotional self-management
• Empathic Concern
  • felt sense when you see other's pain
  • spontaneously want to help out
  • are good team players

(Goleman, D., Different Kinds of Empathy, accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg2pq4Mjeyo)

One of the challenges in creating arguments to convince an audience is the absent audience. However, the greater the level of emotional intelligence, the more likely the author will be able to capture that audience invoked, reaching an actual audience.

Reference

Kano, K. (n/d). Emotional intelligence learning: What research teaches us about its importance to student. Jossey-Bass. Accessed at: http://www.wiley.com/legacy/downloads/Emotional_Intelligence_Learning_What_the_Research_Teaches_Us_About_Its_Importance_to_Students.pdf