Welcome back, this is Thoughts If It Were You,
food for thought by Neogentrics. Today is one
of those days I do a daily double, and I basically
record a secondary podcast within the same day.
Now, continuing off where I left off, I did say
we were going to cover communication, and I've
already covered personal appearance and what
is communication. So, we're going to keep moving
forward with this set topic. for the next couple
of days until I've, you know, covered a pretty
general overview of the entire thing. Okay. I'm
not going to go into extensive detail, like I
said before, but I will cover just about everything
I can on this specific topic. Okay. So today's
second topic of discussion is interpersonal communication
skills. Now you may be asking yourself, what
the heck is that? And how is it any different
than regular communication? First off, regular
communication is basically what I had mentioned
before. Ways of letting someone else know what
you're thinking, feeling, or what you're trying
to say, or what point you're trying to make.
So then, if that's the case, what is interpersonal
communication? This is the process by which people
exchange information, feelings, and meanings
through verbal and non -verbal messages. It is
face -to -face communication. That's basically
what that is. All right? If you want to know
what it's called when you talk to someone face
-to -face, it's called interpersonal communication.
Okay? It's not just about what is actually said,
the language used, but how it is said and how
the nonverbal messages sent through tone of your
voice, facial expressions, gestures, and even
your body language, going back to personal appearance.
Now, When two or more people are in the same
place and are aware of each other's presence,
then the communication is taking place. No matter
how subtle or unintentional it may be. Okay?
So, without speech, an observer may be using
cues of posture, facial expressions, and dress.
to form an impression of the other's role, emotional
state, personality, or even intentions. Although
no communication may be intended, people receive
messages through such forms of non -verbal behavior.
There are a lot of elements of interpersonal
communication. Much research has been done to
try to break down interpersonal communication
into a number of elements in order that it can
be more easily understood. And commonly, these
elements include the communicators, the message,
noise, again, feedback, context, and channel.
Now, I'm not going to go into extensive detail
on each one of these, but I'll give you a brief
overview of each. Okay? Okay, so we're going
to start with the first one, the communicators.
All right. For any communication to occur, there
must be at least two people involved. It is easy
to think that basic communication involving a
sender and receiver of a message is supposed
to be this way. However, the problem with this
way of seeing a relationship is that it presents
communication as a one -way process where one
person sends the message and the other receives
it. While one person is talking, another is listening,
for example, like when you're on the phone. In
fact, communications are almost always complex.
It's a two -way process, basically. We're people
sending and receiving messages to and from each
other simultaneously. In other words, communication
is an interactive process. While one person is...
talking the other is listening but while listening
they're also sending feedback in the form of
smiles head nods gestures body motions etc next
would be the message message not only means the
speech used or information that's being conveyed
but also the nonverbal message exchange such
as you know like i mentioned before your facial
expression tone of voice gestures and your body
language This being said, nonverbal behavior
can convey additional information about spoken
message. In particular, it can reveal more about
emotional attitudes, which may underline the
content of the speech. And with that, I'll have
to cover effective speaking for those who don't
quite understand what I mean by that at a later
date. Next would be noise. Noise has a special
meaning in communication theory. It refers to
anything that distorts the message so that what
is received is different from what is intended
by the speaker. Whilst physical noise, for example,
background noise or other low -flying jet planes
in the background can interfere with communication,
other factors are considered to be noise as well.
The use of complicated jargon, inappropriate
body language, inattention, disinterest, and
cultural differences can also be considered noise
in the context of basic interpersonal communication.
Like a teacher who has a heavy indie accent.
In other words, any distortion or consistencies
that occur during an attempt to communicate can
be seen as basically noise. Again, I'm feedback.
Like I mentioned in the last podcast, it consists
of messages the receiver returns, which allows
the sender to know how accurately the message
has been received or as well as the receiver's
reaction. The receiver may also respond to the
unintentional message as well as the intentional
one. There are different types of feedbacks.
The types of feedback range from direct verbal
statements, for example, say that again, I don't
understand, to subtle facial expressions or changes
in posture that might indicate to the sender
that the receiver feels uncomfortable with the
message or is just falling asleep on themselves
because it's boring. Feedback allows the sender
to regulate, adapt, and repeat the message in
order to improve communication between him and
his receivers. Next would be the context. All
communication is influenced by the context in
which it takes place. However, apart from looking
at the situational context of where the interaction
takes place, for example, in a room, office,
or perhaps outdoors, the social context also
needs to be considered. For example, the roles,
responsibilities, and relative status of the
participants. The emotional climate. And participants'
expectations of the interaction will also affect
the communication as well. Bringing up a previous
thing that I had talked about before, the channel.
The channel refers to the physical means by which
the message is transferred from one person to
another. And in face -to -face context, the channels
which are used are usually speech and vision.
However, during a telephone conversation, the
channel is limited to just speech alone. Just
keep this in mind. Last thing I want to cover
on this one, and yes, I know this podcast is
fairly short, but like I said, it's just a secondary
one I'm doing during the day. These are random.
They're not always consistent with my normal
regular schedule, okay? When you have the opportunity
to observe some interpersonal communication,
make a mental note of the behaviors that are
used, both verbal and nonverbal. Okay. Observe
and think about the following factors. And these
are some things to think about. Who are the communicators?
Okay. What message are, uh, where they was, um,
I'm sorry. What messages were exchanged? What,
if there was any, I'm not saying there will be
a noise distorts the message. Okay. How feedback
is given. Uh, what is the context of the communication
now? You probably do this all the time subconsciously,
but when you actively observe interpersonal communication,
you can more fully appreciate its mechanics.
So by observing others, making a conscious effort
to understand how communication occurs, you will
think about how you communicate and become more
aware of the messages you send. This provides
a perfect opportunity for you to develop your
interpersonal communication skills. Lastly, the
uses of interpersonal communication. Most of
us engage in some form of interpersonal communication
on a regular basis, often many times a day. How
well we communicate with others is a measure
of our interpersonal skills in the first place.
Interpersonal communication is a key life skill,
and it can be used to do the following. Give
and collect information, influence the attitudes
and behaviors of others, form contacts and maintain
relationships, make sense of the world and our
experiences in said world, express personal needs
and understand the needs of others, give and
receive emotional support for those who need
it, make decisions, solve problems. anticipate
and predict behavior and regulate power now while
these may seem like contrary things They all
make up what communication is and it helps improve
upon basic level communication between people
making it more effective Okay Now with that being
said there are a lot of things that factor into
this okay Um, I'm gonna go ahead and give some
tips here, uh, for effective interpersonal communication.
Um, like I said before, uh, interpersonal communication
are skills that, you know, are those which you
will need every day in your life. Okay. in your
professional or personal life. Okay. There's
some of the most important skills that you need
to focus on are large, are large as a large percent
of your life involves interacting with people,
friends, colleagues, and relations with your
boss as well. So with that being said, um, I'm
going to cover 10 tips to help you be an effective
interpersonal communicator. Okay. And I want
you to keep this in mind. At first, it may seem
a simple and natural thing to do, but talking
to people is a complex process and it becomes
more difficult when you do not know how the other
person will react. This is where effective communication
comes into play. And there is a great difference
in the ability to communicate and the ability
to communicate effectively. It requires a person
to have good communication skills as it can make
or break trust, deals, or even change your career.
So, we'll keep that in mind. Alright, so, the
first thing being this. Don't show negative body
language. As the saying goes, the first impression
is the last impression. Hence, you should always
be careful when it comes to body language. It
is said that a typical communication consists
of more than 50 % nonverbal communication, which
includes body language. So if your body language
is sending negative signals to the other person,
the communication will probably break down in
the process. Another important point to note
here is that you should not bring any physical
barriers between you and the other person. Barriers
create distractions and can make the communication
process very uncomfortable. Do not interrupt
the other person. I know I covered this once
before about showing respect when we covered
different morals. However, that aside, it is
very rude to interrupt a person while they are
speaking. And nobody likes to be interrupted
because it hampers the thought process and it
is disrespectful like I said before. If you have
to make an interruption and it is necessary for
you to speak at that exact moment, then you need
to make a gentle interruption. Ask the person
if you may interrupt him or her and say sorry.
And whatever you wanted to say must justify your
interruption, otherwise it's unwarranted. Okay?
Number three, and this is something that a lot
of people need to consider doing, and even me
at some times. Think before you speak. I can't
stress this one enough, okay? Another adage that
perfectly describes this point is look before
you leap, okay? You should think how your words
are going to affect the person whom you are communicating
before making any comments. That means that you
should try... To connect with the feelings of
the other person in order to show that you genuinely
care about the conversation that is going on
between the two of you rather than just saying
that you are and just hearing them. With that
being said, that brings me to the fourth topic,
listening well. The ability to listen to what
a person is saying is in itself a skill. And
you should focus on that while communicating
with others. If you have good listening skills,
you will be able to understand the person's words
more clearly and react in a positive manner.
It will also send a signal to the other person
that you care about what he or she has to say.
That being said, number five, don't be defensive
or attacking. Stay neutral. It doesn't matter
what you're talking about. Some people have a
tendency to get defensive or attack during a
conversation. You do not have to get overexcited
when someone points out your mistakes or get
defensive or attack them. Be neutral and transparent
so that you can understand what is actually being
discussed. Always maintain the balance in the
conversation so that everyone involved in the
discussion has a fair part in it and they feel
comfortable speaking. On that note, Number six,
don't deviate. Okay. Always try to stick to the
topic of the discussion to maintain the relevancy
of the communication process. There is no need
to bring something totally unrelated to the discussion
and waste the time of the people involved. If
you deviate away from the topic, the whole idea
of the conversation becomes less than meaningful
and it's just abstract. Okay. So in that regard,
number seven, be confident of your ideas. Okay.
You should always be confident of what you're
saying or speaking and should take ownership
of your words. This will increase the trust that
the other people have in you and make the conversation
flow more freely. Okay? And on that note, number
eight, be open to receiving feedback. Okay? Sometimes
it's good to step back and be receptive to feedback.
Communication is a two -way process and should
remain like that. I mean, you should be open.
to feedback from the other person and give honest
to good feedback whenever you feel it is needed
but remember there's good and bad feedback okay
now i will be covering giving and receiving feedback
like i said before at a later date all right
next would be number nine use the right communication
method okay communication may not necessarily
always be verbal and you should understand that
different types of situations ask for different
methods okay You should know that which types
of communication methods will be more effective.
Location is also an important point to remember.
Different types of communication needs different
locations. Lastly, shake hands firmly. And while
it may not seem like something too trivial, how
do I put this? The last but not least important
tip is how you shake hands when you introduce
yourself. giving a firm handshake but do not
make it a tight one and also do not squeeze but
then not make it a weak handshake because a weak
handshake may indicate low self -esteem the way
you shake a person's hand tells a lot about who
you are and the type of personality that you
have all right well that brings a conclusion
to this podcast adaptation um on interpersonal
communication and uh Next time we meet or we
come back, we're going to talk about the principles
of communication. Okay. Once again, thank you
guys for listening. Have a great rest of your
day and we'll see each other again later.