Abby Stauder

Professor Chapman
Interpersonal Communication
November 8, 2016
We engage in interpersonal interactions every day and throughout our
life time. Interpersonal communication is the process of sending and
receiving verbal and nonverbal messages between two or more people.
There are processes such as encoding and decoding that are taking place
during these exchanges. We have been asked to take a look at that the most
recent presidential debate and discuss multiple questions regarding the two
candidates interpersonal communication. There are things we should be
aware of while watching this debate, the communication barriers that cause
the failure, the listening habits of each candidate, the idea of empathic
listening, the fact there are interchangeable intercultural barriers, and what
behaviors could make for a better outcome.
The third presidential debate included huge amounts of interpersonal
communication from both parties. This is something that we all do and it is
something that we cannot do away with. The two candidates discussed
topics including, the Supreme Court and how the constitution should be
interpreted. They also debated about Amendment II, abortion, immigration,
and the economy. Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump both gave their opinions
on each topic. Nonverbal communication can tell you a lot about a person,
and that can be a good or bad thing. There are also good nonverbal gestures
and negative ones. Clinton and Trump, I believe, both had positive and
negative behaviors that they should be more aware of.
There are many different communication barriers that could have
caused this failure. Barriers in communication are specific items that can
distort or prevent communication within an organization. I believe the
biggest barrier in this debate is the fact that these two people have two
totally different views on how they should run the United States of American.
You are asking two people that have opposing views the same exact
questions. This is of course going to put up a barrier between the two
candidates. Obviously, this example doesnt work to explain every day
communication barriers between me and my daily conversations but it works
great for this assignment. This also goes to show there are many different
barriers. Barriers could also differ depending on the way you are encoding
and decoding the opposite parties messages. Like I stated before, I feel that
the biggest barrier for Trump and Clinton is that they are from opposite
political parties making it hard to hold a conversation in the first place.

I feel that the listening behaviors of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump were not
very strong. Listening habits are extremely important in your professional career,
as well as in your personal, everyday life. We all as individuals should be active
listeners. These are the 6 steps of being an active listener: Paying attention,
holding judgement, reflecting, clarifying, summarizing and sharing. After
watching the first hour of the third debate in 2016, I feel it is safe to say not
either candidate was an active listener. The lack of listening from each party is
what caused a negative interpersonal relationship. I feel that both candidates did
not pay enough attention to each other or the man asking them the debate
questions. It is also clear that neither person held their judgement. Although it
may be hard for them to do so, I feel that it is very important to hold back and
not bash your opponent too much, whether it be the person running against you
in the presidency or your high school football rival team. I do agree that both
Trump and Clinton reflected on their individual ideas and on each others, but not
in a positive way. Clarifying, summarizing and sharing all were done while I was
watching this debate, but it was done in a negative way producing this negative
outcome. If these two would have just highlighted one good idea the other one
had, I feel it could have had a positive impact on the outcome. Even though this
example is a debate, each opposing side needs to listen effectively.
Empathic listening may have been able to improve the communication
between Donald and Hilary. Empathic listening is the ability to accurately
pick up on emotions in the other people and understand what is really going
on. Two things that can help improve this skill is listening and sight-reading
nonverbal communication. Empathy listening would have helped in this
debate, it allows you to really feel how the other person feels about a certain
subject. This type of listening is something you have to want to do and I do
not believe either candidate cares. This is unfortunate, I feel that one who
does care even though they dont agree 100%, could develop and better
communication relationships.
There are massive intercultural communication barriers present during
this debate. The biggest intercultural difference is of course, gender. We
have a dominant male and female trying to get as many supporters as they
can. In a situation like a presidential debate, this is a huge barrier. Especially
considering Hilary Clinton is the first women to run for President. I feel that
background could create a barrier as well. Clinton has been a Politician for
many years. Trump has been a president of his company but never been
involved in politics. This can cause debates, issues and make communication
tough. Beliefs and religion are also a touchy subject. Religion was brought up
regarding one of the candidates but I am not as educated on that topic. It did
cause an obstruction in the topic they were discussing at that moment.
These intercultural barriers discussed had a huge impact on this debate and
will forever, between these two individuals.
Overall, there are many behaviors presented that caused such
negative communication. One of the biggest is nonverbal. A couple examples

from each candidate that I saw were eye contact, smiles, nods, and hand
movements. You can read and understand a lot a person is saying by
watching nonverbal behaviors. Trump and Clinton both had eye contact with
each other and the audience. At points in the debate they had wide eyes to
show tension and anger, as well as contact with audience to show authority.
They both smiled at remarks from each other and nodded heads to show
they received messages intended for themselves; even though they may
have been sarcastic. I personally feel that one of the most powerful
nonverbal practices is hand movements. During the debate both Hilary and
Donald used violent hand movements and I believe in both cases they were
being assertive and defense. I think that these are a few reasons on why this
outcome was so negative.
In closing, I believe interpersonal communication is so strong. It can
create a positive or negative experience for each persons or parties involved.
The example I used was a debate but this happens in our everyday lives.
Understanding these behaviors is crucial. This debate was negative because
both Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump had poor communication skills and it
was evident in many ways.
** I watched the 1st hour of the third debate**