Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication is a practice where two people share information, messages and transfer meanings through spoken and unspoken messages. In interpersonal communication, the language used is not important than how the message sender uses the non-verbal cues to pass the message. This can be established through facial expression, tonal variation, gestures and any related type of body language. When two or more individuals are at the same place and are aware of the presence of each other, then communication takes place even when no word is said. Without speech, a recipient may observe other communication cues like the sender's posture, facial expression, dressing code, emotional state and personality and decode the message sent across. This essay focuses on my interpersonal communication skills and my perception of this type of communication.
Importance of Interpersonal Communication
We communicate a lot of messages in our day to day activities. The manner in which we pass the message is one of the most fundamental aspects of human communication, and this makes interpersonal communication among the best methods to pass messages across. In interpersonal communication, people involved are often independent, and the interpretation of each message depends on each person's motivation, and expectations (Berger, 2014). When doing interpersonal communication, the other party is often expected to understand the message regardless of how it is communicated. Humans are intelligent beings and are capable of decoding a message regardless of how we communicate it and whatever we communicate. Interpersonal communication is therefore important because it can bridge the gap between the anticipations of a message and the medium used.
Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication
The message passed and how we communicate it requires a rational individual to choose between the available options that can pass the message more conveniently. One of the key distinctions between types of interpersonal communications is verbal and non-verbal. In verbal communication how a message is passed is very important. When the language used is understood by other people in the surrounding, the actual meaning has to be concealed. Most of the times, we use common expressions that are known between the sender and the receiver to pass the message even if other the language used is understandable by other people in the vicinity. I am required to use slangs, proverbs and other words that can emphasize the idea and the message. Nonverbal communication skills can be employed in addition to a verbal message to emphasize what is being said or they can be used in isolation. When I communicate, I often face the recipient to ensure that the message is passed across and I am able to receive and understand the feedback relayed thus completing the communication cycle.
Effectiveness of Interpersonal Communication
As an interpersonal communicator, I make use of these strategies most of the time and the recipient gets the message correctly. Most of the times, interpersonal communication occurs between people who share a common thing such as language, skills, experience or relations. It is not possible to be effective in interpersonal communication with strangers because communication calls for a specific level of trust between the communicators. In interpersonal communication, the communicators constantly send and receive messages even without concentrating so much on the language used. Personally, I have developed a liking for this type of communication because I am able to pass the message only to the intended audience without causing disruption to other or creating unnecessary suspense to the unintended audience.
References
Berger, J. (2014). Word of mouth and interpersonal communication: A review and directions for future research. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(4), 586-607.
