Essay Sample on Interpersonal Communication

Introduction

There are six principles of interpersonal communication that you can follow to make yourself into a more experienced and skilled communicator. They include, taking responsibility for your behavior, sharing meaning, acknowledging that your view point is the only one, respecting yourself and others, and practicing being a competent communicator. The main basic principles of effective communication that the following paper seeks to discuss include respecting your view in addition to others and remembering that communication involves shared meaning. The two principles are essential in every time of communication since it eliminates conflicts of idea and brings amicable understanding in the conversation.

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Remain neutral in a conversation and consider other people opinions by respecting your view in addition to others. According to this principle, instead of always trying to be right in a conversation you should find a way to have a mutual agreement. When you are involved in a conversation which you are only focused on proving your own point and refusing to consider the other person's view point, the conversation would usually end in frustration and miscommunication. Remembering that communication involves shared meaning and not getting upset or annoyed in a conversation when someone fails to comprehend with what you are trying to say. A better alternative would be trying to have more patience with the other person in the conversation and explain further. According to Bevan and Sole (2014), "each person in an interaction - not just the sender - has an equal responsibility to work toward achieving this mutual understanding and interpretation" (Ch. 1, Sect. 4). Admit that your view of a situation is one of many views. To make a conversation more engaging, is imperative to view situation on the perspective of other people and put in mind how their standpoint makes sense of them.

Consider the idea that communication involves shared meaning. It is arguably that miscommunication is the main issue that arises when this principle of communication is overlooked. Consequently, it might lead to either or both sides to get equally upset or confused. Through communication we need to take interest in understanding what one party is trying to communicate, then from there we can know from which point we are going to argue our point. Getting feedback will encourage a reasonable communication with clear understanding of what is being conveyed and how to make sensible decision. According to my knowledge and experience, the area where miscommunication tends to happen the most is over the phone, via email, or text messages. The miscommunication that happens can just be something simple, like when someone tries to "read between the lines". People are quick at judging rather than taking time to know the intention of the message rather than the simple wordings.

I can relate this principle to the experience I had with my friend. One day, I received a message from my boyfriend that said "Love You". My friend, being slightly nosy, raised an issue of the message "love you" instead of "I love you". Therefore, my friend dismissed that the message was vague and not specific hence, not legitimate to the recipient, who was me. I felt offended and disagreed with her understanding. My friend maintained that her argument was based on the fact that the phrase "love you" is applied for the friends and colleagues, whereas the phrase "I love you" is more specific and engaging to one particular person who is a darling to you. Rather than expressing my discontent I had to consider my friend's opinions and that of my boyfriend. It was realized that my boyfriend saw no difference between the two phrases, since they both had the same meaning. I had to explain to my friend and make her understand and let it go of her irrational view on the matter.

The principles of interpersonal communication illustrated in this situation are acknowledging that your view of the situation is only one of many views. Bevan and Sole (2014) affirms that you "try to take the perspective of other people and consider how their point of view makes sense to them" (Ch.1, Sect. 4). Therefore, you need to understand their opinion before arguing out. I believe that the barrier that led to miscommunication was semantic noise (Understanding Interpersonal Communication; Making Connections). Bevan & Sole defines semantic noise as the one that "occurs when one or both communicators assign different meanings to a message" (Ch. 1, Sect. 2). In the case of sematic noise every communicator gives opinion on different angle of communication rather than basing on one aspect. Bevan and Sole (2014) explain that "though we cannot fully eliminate noise from our interactions with others, knowing that noise can affect our communication can help us anticipate and deal with it" (Ch. 1, Sect. 2). This means that we have to deal with barriers so as we can communicate effectively.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the basic principles of effective communication are essential in every conversation since brings a sense of understanding among the communicators. Having the selective way of realizing sematic noise as the barrier of communication, communicators will be able to apply the principles of communication and eradicate miscommunication and misunderstanding. It can be difficult to be able to understand what someone means when texting, including the tone they meant to say it in, and their mood overall. However, by seeking emphasis on where there are some misunderstanding will prevent misjudgment of communication. In that note, respecting your view in addition to others and remembering that communication involves shared meaning are essential in the elimination of communication barrierrs

References

J. L. Bevan, K. Sole, 2014, Making Connections; Understanding Interpersonal Communication,

(2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved January 10, 2019 <https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUCOM200.14.1/sections/ch02>