Throughout the course of the semester the biggest take that made an impact on me was the use of discipline when it comes to writing the facts, and just the facts. Towards the beginning of the semester, we wrote a documentary summary which required us to use no opinion, instead giving an account the facts that we saw while viewing. I am a compassionate person, so when I begin to get emotional about something, I may tend to put emphasis on my opinion. An important aspect of placing an emphasis on opinion is to maintain balance and control. To be an effective speaker and writer, I've come to realize, that you must be able to listen first. Throughout my blog entries I was able to practice focusing on the opposite side before I explained my own opinion. The reason I say this is, because, I've read many things especially with the current election process, that have discredited a source because there was an apparent bias. Its almost a shame because there could be such a valuable aspect to a piece of writing, but once the writer strays off on their own opinion there is a sense of bias that is hard to avoid.
Value can easily be placed on what we learned about report writing. I recently tested for a local police department and this skill came in handy. There was a portion of the test that required us to write the summary of the report. With the knowledge I took away from the course, I was able to keep everything in past tense and not use any opinion. It also came in handy when I needed to list the victim/suspect because I knew only the last name was necessary.
This course was valuable in many respects. You can never know enough about communication so I would recommend writing to anyone studying law enforcement.
