Communication Skills Power

Interpersonal communication has a lot to do with non-verbal cues as well as what you say. People unconsciously detect a lot of meaning - and sometimes misinterpret it - from body language. Making sure that you are using the right kind of body language can help to prevent an awful lot of problems with interpersonal communication.

1. Position
Believe it or not, where you stand or sit in relation to the person you are attempting to communicate with can make a big difference to the conversation. Standing face to face with someone can be intimidating and feel confrontational.

Instead, try sitting side by side. Better still, walk and talk together. That seems to bring people in synch’.

2. Read between the lines
If an argument has continued for more than ten minutes, the chances are that you are not addressing the real issue. Now may not be the time to do that if feelings are running high, but the choice is to take a break or address the real issue; any further arguing is just counter-productive.

3. Trust your instincts
Your instincts are a major part of interpersonal communication; they will help you to detect if someone is lying - for instance, if someone fakes a look of innocence, it is often subconsciously rather than any other way that you will detect dishonesty.

Of course, as well as the above non-verbal aspects of communication, what you say is important in interpersonal conversation.

4. Don’t be afraid to be graphic
A graphic, specific detail can be really effective in
interpersonal communication. It can be really memorable.

When you want to memorable, give your interpersonal communication some memorable features such as a vivid detail, story or a detail. Be controversial if you want to and can handle the consequences.

5. Try to empathize
It will help your interpersonal communication immensely if you can try to see things from the other person’s point of view. You will be surprised at how quickly simply acknowledging that the other person has a valid point of view will defuse many heated arguments. Part of this empathy is also about allowing pauses and silences so that you can both think. Try not to shoot words back and forth like balls in a tennis volley; pause and review the situation; think how you can progress a conversation productively.

6. Be clear
If you have a point of view to communicate, say it. Say it with an understanding that others have a right to disagree with you, but say it with conviction. People will listen to you and you will provoke further thought. In contrast, if people aren’t sure what you are trying to say, they will become frustrated and they will also begin to distrust you as you don’t seen to have the courage of your convictions.

7. Use appropriate vocabulary
It’s no good talking in a way in which your audience don’t understand; they won’t learn a thing and your conversation will get nowhere. Use simple, everyday language and if you need to use technical terms, explain them. Remember to not belittle your audience, though; that will stop them listening to you openly if they feel you do not respect them.

These guidelines are all quite simple, as interpersonal
communication needn’t be a difficult thing. It should be about a meeting of minds; a meeting on the same level. The message to be communicated should be the most important thing and you should be focusing upon how you can enable your audience to understand your message if you are the one to have something to communicate; if you are the one receiving the message, you should do your best to listen and give the other person chance to talk. Those simple things should really help you in your interpersonal communication.

Communication that is interpersonal is the process of sending and receiving messages between two or more people. Examples of interpersonal communication are:

1) a conversation between two people
2) small group communication
3) a speech made to a wide audience.

All these can be considered forms of interpersonal communication. All forms of interpersonal communication rely on a sender (from which a message originates), a message, a communication channel (or medium such as the voice of a person), a receiver, and feedback. Examples of these elements of interpersonal communication may change depending on the situation but it is still interpersonal communication.

When something obstructs the process of interpersonal communication, such as noise, there are negative consequences that result. For example:

1) if the sender finds it difficult to be heard, the receiver may not be able to react to the message being sent.

2) the receiver may not be able to provide necessary feedback to the sender of the message.

This makes interpersonal communication a very important process to follow, regardless of the size of the group involved in interpersonal communication.

What are the ways in which interpersonal communication can break down or be obstructed?

1) Predominance of emotions - the sender may be subconsciously influencing how the message is received because of his emotional state. Or the receiver could be providing emotionally-influenced feedback in return.

2) Filtering - when this problem occurs, the receiver may not get the whole message because the sender has restructured the message to suit his own purposes.

3) Information overload - sometimes, there are senders who provide too much information at one time, making the receiver feel burdened with the size of the message. The receiver may then not be able to respond to the sender.

4) Defensiveness - a receiver who feels threatened by the message could react in a defensive way - even if the sender did not intend to put the receiver on the defensive.

5) Cultural bias - the message of a sender could subconsciously be colored by the cultural perspective maintained by the sender. If the sender and receiver come from different cultures, this could result in communication breakdown.

6) Jargon - a sender should make sure that the receiver can understand him when the sender resorts to using jargon. This is because the sender may wind up being frustrated because the receiver fails to understand him or reacts in an undesirable way.

How does one improve interpersonal communication then?
There are four possible ways:

1) Make messages simpler - do not resort to long messages because this makes it more likely that the message will not get through, be misinterpreted, or simply ignored. Short messages are easier to absorb and react to.

2) Restrain your emotions - if you become emotionally agitated, wait until you have your emotions under control before you send a message or feedback.

3) Listen closely - make it a point to listen well to the person speaking to you. Many cases of breakdown in communication occur because the receiver does not listen closely to the message.

4) Provide sufficient feedback - If you are the receiver, make it a point to assure the sender that you have received the message by providing a summary of what the message was about. This facilitates the communication process even further.

For interpersonal communication, it is important that both sender and receiver make an effort to improve the
communication process. If only one party chooses to make an effort at improving communication, interpersonal communication will still not be achieved. Both parties - the sender and the receiver - have to do their part. Only then will dynamic communication interpersonal be achieved.

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Having good interpersonal communication skill is a combination of being able to say what you mean clearly and concisely, and being able to take on board other people’s opinions and adapt what you say accordingly, as well as making them feel they can speak freely.

To do that, you’ve got to be aware of your own role in the conversation and be able to manage your own attitudes and emotions so that the conversation fulfills the agenda of everyone involved and does not get heated or over-emotional if difficult topics need to be discussed.

It’s not as difficult as it sounds, with just a few hints
and tips:

1. Body Language

Being able to read body language and being aware of the signals you are giving to other people is probably one of the most important parts of interpersonal communication skill - and yet it is often overlooked. More than half your message is got across without even opening your mouth!

Most people will never have thought about that, but their brains will instinctively process this non-verbal communication.

Your body language will really let your emotions show through, so control your anger, nerves etc so that you can speak and listen more effectively, rather than being over-occupied with how you are feeling.

Don’t worry, though - a lot of body language is common-sense. Holding eye contact for a comfortable amount of time, leaning forward and nodding occasionally are sure signs that the other person is listening to you, so be sure you give off these signals too - and don’t fake them!

2. Listen

You can’t expect to learn anything from a conversation if you don’t listen to it properly. Take the time to respect what other people are saying, no matter how ridiculous they
sound! There may just be a grain of sense in there - and even if there isn’t, it’s everyone’s right to hold a silly point of view!

3. Be aware of who you’re speaking to

Everyone is different and you will need to tailor your communication for the different types of people you are speaking to. Make sure you use language that can be understood but which isn’t patronizing.

4. Diffuse situations when you can

Always try to relive the tension if someone you are talking to is feeling tense and upset or angry. Don’t bite back if they make a negative or insulting comment. That will just escalate the problem.

So how do you diffuse a situation? First - don’t under-estimate the power of a few seconds silence. It allows people to calm down, reflect - and think of how they can move the conversation on more usefully. YOU may need to be the one that suggests you all take a break for a little while, to allow tensions to ease.

5. Help people out

If you can see someone is feeling awkward and seems not to know what to say, see if you can help them out - tactfully.  Perhaps you may ask them a direct question that gets them
started. Or if they’re struggling for a specific word, perhaps you can supply some suggestions - or try another question to elucidate their meaning. This should hopefully
let them know that they don’t need to use fancy words to get their meaning across and allow them to relax.

Try these and you’ll soon feel more relaxed in conversations and be able to manage them much more effectively so you all achieve what you want to in the conversation. It is amazing
how much some simple tips can help build your interpersonal communication skill.

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