I just Graduated!

It was FANTASTIC to finally get my Master's. The graduation became particularly special to me because I gave a speech to 2000+ people representing all the graduating students. I mainly talked about what it means to me to be a 'communication expert'. Below is my speech. Enjoy!

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished faculty, proud parents and friends, and most importantly, the class of 2010!

I am humbled and deeply honored to have been given this opportunity to share this momentous occasion with you, and to thank everyone from the Department of Communication for the incredible help and support they have provided me, for playing such an important role in cultivating great minds, and for challenging and inspiring all of us to take a life journey as communication experts. My education in this program will make a difference in all aspects of my life, and in all corners of the world to which I travel.

We are – all of us graduating today - communication experts. We value the importance of understanding how human communication shapes and guides society; we understand the significance of symbols, meanings, and messages; we know how to inquire into the nature of human communication and to think critically about the ways in which we attempt to influence one another.

But are we really communication experts? Or as Karl Weick asks, “how can I know what I think until I see what I say?” I started to try to answer this question some two years ago, when I first arrived in this country from China, and became a graduate student in the department of communication. The question became particularly relevant when I began to see how easily misunderstandings occur in intercultural communication situations.

During my first semester in Raleigh, for example, I volunteered in a local elementary school where many students and their parents were new immigrants from China and could speak little English. So I became the unofficial interpreter during teacher-parent meetings. One conversation between a teacher and a parent remained in my mind: “Mrs. Li, Johnny refused to answer questions in English today,” the teacher told Mrs. Li, Johnny’s mom. “I am so sorry Miss Gillian,” replied Mrs. Li. “We tried our best, but it is very difficult for us to help our child improve English. I really appreciate everything you have done to help him.” As I translated, I tried to reassure Miss Gillian, the teacher, that this is all Johnny’s mom had said - or ‘had to say’.

I regret not telling Miss Gillian then that the Chinese mom was not shying away from her responsibility to have her son be better prepared. Instead, as is the custom in much of Asia, she was trying to pay the highest respect to the teacher. From the perspective of Johnny’s mother, the authority of an educator is to be esteemed, not interfered with. The mother did not want to interfere with the teacher’s relationship with Johnny.

I also regret not telling Mrs. Li that a better way to show respect to a teacher in American culture is to proactively work with that teacher - to create a collaborative relationship in order to help the child improve.

What I learned from that intercultural interaction is how important it is to know something about how communication works – how important it is not only to facilitate the flow of information, but also to facilitate understanding and trust.

This kind of knowledge about human communication also applies to communication in workplace. In my experience as a marketing communication intern in a Raleigh-based public relations agency – and, more specifically, in my efforts to assist local technology companies develop business contacts in Asia and Europe -- the most critical question I have always needed to answer is: “How can we ensure that other markets and cultures trust our clients enough to cooperate with them?”

I am pretty sure we all have similar stories and face similar challenges. I want the graduating students today to know that, as communication experts, we are all helping people learn and trust each other; we are shaping the way the world see things; we have the knowledge and the ability to connect the globe as a whole.

In China, we have an idiom called 抛砖引玉- you throw out a few bricks, hoping that some fine jewelry or jade will follow, or you offer some commonplace remarks, in hope to inspire valuable opinions from others. So what I’ve said are my bricks, and I do hope you have the jade in your mind as a communication expert. Let’s start our great adventure, and good luck!