Accomplishing Effective Interpersonal Communication

Ashley Smith
December 4, 2014
PSYC1102
Feather Nixon

Accomplishing Effective Interpersonal Communication

Relationship Communication

Communication is something that takes place between two people who share some sort of
relationship. Interpersonal communication is a transactional process where each person serves as both,
a speaker and a listener. As humans, we communicate for five reasons; to relate, play, learn, help, and
to influence. The thing about communication is it is inevitable- you can not not communicate, although
sometimes communication can be unintentional, you (non verbally) communicate with others around
you simply by the way you carry yourself- facial gestures, body posture, etc. . If communication is
inevitable, then how can we as humans accomplish effective interpersonal communication?
One way to accomplish effective interpersonal communication is by listening. One thing that
does not occur to many people, is that listening involves more than just simply opening your ears and
hearing. There are five stages involved in listening; receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating,
and responding, but there can be a lot that occurs between the first stage of receiving and the last stage
of responding. For ex, the way we encode our messages will determine the way that the person we are
communicating with will decode that message. Sometimes there can be blockers or noise that
interfere with the way we send or receive messages. The noise can be physical (wearing sunglasses, our
a loud noise), physiological (memory loss, hearing loss), psychological (mental disabilities), or
semantic (jargon). One of the greatest obstacles to effective communication, and something that can
effect a persons ability to listen is message overload (aka information overload) when communicating
with others, loading them up with information can be confusing and overwhelming.
Another way to accomplish effective communication is by realizing cultural differences, and
how to eliminate cultural barriers when communicating. A culture is the lifestyle of a group of people,
including values, beliefs, language, and ways of behaving, thinking, and communicating- they differ in
terms of context, orientation (I vs. we), and masculinity vs. femininity. Ethnocentrism (considering

your culture as more superior to another) is a leading problem when dealing with intercultural
communication, but by avoiding things like over attribution ( the tendency to attribute too much of a
persons behavior to one of their characteristics- stereotyping) and noise like slang or cultural jargon,
it will help to accomplish effective interpersonal communication.
Overcoming personal barriers may also help to accomplish effective interpersonal
communication. Ethics are a moral section of communication (lying and misleading), you can't
jeopardize what is right in order to improve your communication. Your perception (becoming aware of
events using your senses) on the world, and person you're communicating with (self fulfilling
prophecy-making a prediction about a person, and acting as if its true) may also influence your
communication choices. Another personal barrier while communicating is self concept; the image of
who you are. Increasing self awareness is one way to eliminate any personal barriers while
communicating.
Communication is something that is irreversible, once something is said, you can't withdraw
from it, it is also unrepeatable; you can't make a first impression twice, so why not get it right the first
time? By learning to listen, focusing on acceptance and understanding of all cultural groups, and
increasing your self awareness, you can effectively accomplish interpersonal communication.