Interpersonal Communication Skills

Interpersonal Communication Skills

Interpersonal communication can be described as the process by which people will exchange ideas, information, feelings, and other meaningful things through both spoken words and nonverbal messages (Hewes, 2013). Interpersonal communication does not only involve the language that people use in passing information, but also the way information will be said and non-verbal messages that are passed by the body language, facial expressions, hand movements, tone of voice, and gestures among many others (Biocca & Levy, 2013). There are many elements of interpersonal communication that include the communicator, the audience, noise, context, and feedback. The communicator is the individual passing the message and the other one receiving it because there must be at least two parties for communication to occur. Noise has a special meaning in the theory of communication, and it is used to refer to any interference that will distort the message (Berrly & Woods, 2015).

Every day of people’s lives, they are engaged in communication regarding their day to day lives. In their personal and career lives, people are continuously communicating with their peers and other fellow human beings. It is, therefore, an essential undertaking that a person evaluates their interpersonal skills to ascertain whether they perform well or that they need to improve. It is equally important to develop excellent interpersonal communication if one wishes to prosper in their career and to maintain a social relationship with friends. Communication is one way to enhance personal development and understanding among a group of people. It is, therefore, a significant undertaking for a person to develop their interpersonal communication skills (Elizabeth, 2009).

Interpersonal communication skills are the process through which people exchange information, meaning, and feelings through either verbal or non-verbal communication. Thus for a person to communicate, they have to master the principles of interpersonal communication skills. I use various skills to enhance my communication with other people. I realize that communication is not just what is said, but it also includes how it is said. For example, if a person says, “come here,” as plain as it is, it may be considered polite, and it is a request. On the other hand, if the person says, “come here!” it may be considered a command. Thus in communicating, I realize it is important to hold my facial expressions, control my voice, among others.

The personal communication skills of an individual will usually rely heavily on their ability to engage their audience using nonverbal immediacy (Andersen, 1985). The phenomenon of nonverbal immediacy is usually made up of a myriad of ideas, mostly, which does not involve any sound from the performer in engaging his or her audience. The concept of immediacy can be referred to as the virtue that a person has that helps them to bring their audience into a direct and instant involvement in the conversation and also to make them feel that there is some form of urgency or enthusiasm. In communicating in this manner, the individual can capture the attention of the audience, and this makes it easy to communicate with them. Body language can be the reason for which the audience may or may not understand the information being passed by an individual. Other non-verbal immediacy aspects are also vital to the communication process, and they include gestures, facial expressions, and body orientation, among many others (McCroskey et al., 1996). Facial communication is vital to the process of communication to the point that it is sometimes referred to as a form of communicating to an audience without words (Mehrabian, 2008).

Interpersonal communication is one of the very vital aspects of communication that people should strive to master as it is crucial in engaging other people, especially in the world of business (Hargie, 2016). It can be differentiated from intrapersonal skills. Intrapersonal skills usually involve the things that happen exclusively within the individual, while interpersonal skills are the relationships that happen between two or more people. Interpersonal relations or an individual are directly related to their cultures. The way an individual was brought up by the parents and their surrounding environment will have a significant impact on their ability to effectively and efficiently communicate with those around them after they have grown up (Gudykunst, Ting-Toomey & Chua, 1988).

To observe the interpersonal skills, I first understand the fundamental principles of effective communication. The principles include ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos describes the credibility as a communicator, pathos deals with the understanding of a person listening to me, and logos is the logic and strength of my thoughts. For effective communication, one needs to have credibility to his or her audience, understand the audience, and be able to present thoughts in a well-planned manner (Brown, 2014).

Even with these skills, I usually find some struggles when communicating with others. These are the areas I feel need to be improved if I am to communicate effectively with anyone. One of the areas I need to improve on is eye contact. I notice that during communication, especially with strangers, I am not able to maintain eye contact. Maintaining eye contact with the person you are communicating with is essential, as it shows confidence in what one is saying. Another area that I struggle with during communication is the choice of words to use while communicating. This is especially so when I am using English since it is my second language. A proper flow of ideas is essential during communication. Therefore, the lack of this flow hinders effective communication (Brown, 2014).

To improve my interpersonal communication ability, I have set various goals that I intend to achieve in this semester and this course. The first step has already been done, which is to take a communication course. I expect the course to help me build confidence and to learn how to communicate coherently. Another goal is to spruce up my writing abilities. To do this, I have set a goal to be writing at least four pieces a week. I hope this will be an essential undertaking in my life as it will strengthen my choice of words and vocabulary. Another goal I have is to seek out an opportunity to lead. This could be in a class discussion group or other positions of leadership. Leading involves communicating with followers. This will help me in being proactive and be challenged in problem-solving opportunities that come with leadership. When I accomplish the above goals, I hope that I will be well equipped to communicate effectively, and I will have sharpened my interpersonal communication skills. The undertakings will also greatly enhance my life.