I. Proper communication skills are very essential in everyday life activities. They must just determine your next promotion or the new contract that your client will sign for you. They might just as well find you a spouse. It is the weapon for influence one should never underestimate that. Even persuasion will rely on how effective communication is. Several attributes are required in a person in order to become a good communicator. Self confidence is among the most emphasized communication skills that many talk about. Well, it is a key trait but there is much more to just being confident for you to become a great communicator.
A. Proper communication skills are a collection of several attributes when put together give birth to the highly sought skill.
II. Words can transform the opinion which people have towards you. Words have the authority to generate and shape attitudes, behavior, and perception.
- People regarded Martin Luther King as Americas advocate even in times of war because of how he spoke to them.
1. Psychologist John R. Schafer states that words can make people either to like or on the contrary to dislike you.
B. People create notions and perceptions with just the first few minutes of speaking with a person.
1. John R. Schafer has a PhD in psychology and is a behavioral analyst who works for the FBI
III. You do not have to speak to a person for them to like or dislike you. Perceptions, emotions, and nonverbal expression have an effect on interpersonal relationships.
A. People are on the lookout for your facial expressions plus other cues for them to pass judgment about you.
1. An article on livestrong.com says this concept explain how children know they are in trouble even before their mother speaks to them.
B. The public in your surrounding will at a time study you and accurately predict your mood via your non verbal cues.
1. According to the article even if a mother spoke kid words to a child and still did not adjust her nonverbal cues the child could still fore-see danger. We are all more less the same.
IV. At a point in life we will all experience some interpersonal conflicts. We have to employ strategies for keeping in check interpersonal conflicts.
A. According to the civil service of Louisiana, interpersonal conflict occurs when the goals of a person are not in line with those of another.
1. Conflict is based on the prevalence of differences between people and a balance has to be struck for the conflict to be resolved.
B. The civil service of Louisiana gave some training on conflict resolution advising people to try employing collaboration when such situations arise.
1. The civil service of Louisiana has put major efforts in promoting peace in the city.
V. An individual should avoid centering a talk on him or herself to create a proper communication environment. Self-concept and self-protective and supportive communication and behaviors generate positive or negative communication environments.
A. Kathy Garvin-Doxas carried out a study in a computer science class and discovered that learning environments are the ones mainly affected by the defensive and self-protective behavior.
1. Lack of a positive mode of interaction between the professors and their students makes the student tend to be defensive while communicating with them and thus improper learning environment.
B. Professors should acknowledge that students are bound to make mistakes and learn how to handle then because they still are in the process of growing up.
1. Kathy Garvin-Doxas has listed that inferiority complex found in people especially in women also tends to make them self-protective.
VI. Respecting and appreciating others genders and culture will also help in fostering good interpersonal relationships. Both gender and culture will have a significant impact to good interpersonal communication.
A. Cynthia Burggraf Torppa an Educator at The Ohio State University says that due to cultural and gender differences people may perceive the same message in different ways.
1. Women have proven to be keen to see come interpersonal meanings that are hidden in between words that men may not be able to see.
B. It all comes naturally though how we view communication and our attentiveness to it may make the differene.
1. She has further applied this to marriage and said that women will tend to take the role of relationship specialists while their better halves will assume the role of task specialists.
References
Garvin-Doxas, K., & Barker, L. J. (2004). Communication in computer science classrooms: understanding defensive climates as a means of creating supportive behaviors. Journal on Educational Resources in Computing (JERIC), 4(1), 2.
Burggraf, C. (2010). Gender issues: communication differences in interpersonal relationships. [e-book] Ohio: The Ohio State University. p. 1. Available through: Ohio State university http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm02/pdf/fs04.pdf [Accessed: 3 Feb 2014].
EFFECTIVE CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES. (n.p.). [e-book] Louisiana: Louisiana State University. pp. 1-22. Available through: Civil Service of Louisiana http://www.civilservice.louisiana.gov/files/divisions/Training/Manuals/Conflict%20Res%20MANUAL%2002-24-12.pdf [Accessed: 3 Feb 2014].
LIVESTRONG.COM. (2014). How does nonverbal communication affect relationships? | livestrong.com. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/123418-nonverbal-communication-affect-relationships/ [Accessed: 3 Feb 2014].
Psychologytoday.com. (2014). Words have power. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/let-their-words-do-the-talking/201011/words-have-power [Accessed: 3 Feb 2014].
