1. Interpersonal Communication
Module Two

2. Communication In Your Life
Communication is the process of using verbal and nonverbal messages to generate meaning across various contexts, cultures, and channels.
Although we communicate all the time, we can always learn how to communicate better.

3. A national survey of 1,000 human resource managers concluded that oral communication skills are the most critical factor for obtaining jobs and advancing in a career.
Fortune 500 companies claim the college graduates they employ need stronger communication skills as well as a demonstrated ability to work in teams and with people from diverse backgrounds.

4. What Do You believe About Interpersonal Communication?
So What?....
We need to learn how to apply interpersonal communication theories, strategies, and skills to multiple communication contexts.
Complete the following in your EZ Guide
What Do You believe About Interpersonal Communication?

5. Respond to each of the following statements with T (true) if you think the statement is always or usually true, or F (false) if you think the statement is always or usually false.
Good communicators are born, not made.
The more you communicate the better your communication will be.
Unlike effective speaking, effective listening really cannot be taught.
Opening lines such as “Hello, how are you?” or “Fine weather today” serve no useful communication purpose.
The best way to communicate with someone from another culture is exactly as you would with someone from your own culture.

6. When verbal and nonverbal messages contradict each other, people believe the verbal message.
Complete openness should be the goal of any meaningful interpersonal relationship.
Interpersonal conflict is a reliable sign that your relationship is in trouble.
Like good communicators, small-group leaders are born, not made.
Fear of speaking is detrimental, and the effective speaker must learn to eliminate it.
How did you do?

7. What will you do?
This is a good time to start practicing the critical thinking skill of questioning commonly held assumptions about communication and about thinking of yourself as a communicator.

8. Know Yourself Answer the following questions: YES or NO
Personal: Do I have meaningful personal relationships with close friends, relatives, and romantic partners?
Professional: Do I communicate effectively within and on behalf of a business, organization, or work team?
Educational: Do I demonstrate what I have learned in collegiate, corporate, and other training settings?
Intercultural: Do I understand, respect, and adapt to people from diverse backgrounds?
Intellectual: Do I analyze and evaluate the meaning of multiple and complex messages in an ever changing world?
Societal: Do I critically analyze and appropriately respond to public and mediated messages?
Ethical: Do I apply ethical standards to personal and public communication in a variety of situations?

9. Communication Principles
Communication is a process – that is constantly moving and the elements interact with one another to bring about a result.
The characteristics of other communicators can affect your communication
Communication is a psychological, emotional and behavioural process that asks you to make multiple, interdependent decisions about how you will use verbal and non verbal messages to generate meaning.

10. Communication Principles (cont)
Know yourself
Connect with others
Determine your purpose
Ensure you understand how your characteristics and attitudes affect the way you communicate
Communication is relational; the nature of your relationship with others affects what , when, where, why, and how you communicate
What you and others are trying to accomplish by communicating – is purposeful

11. Communication Principles (cont)
Adapt to the context
Select appropriate content
The context is the circumstances and setting in which the communication takes place
Enlist the power of good ideas and language; since there is no tangible relationship between a symbol, the thing it represents, and how you may feel about it, there is always potential for misunderstanding

12. Communication Principles (cont)
Structure your message
Practice skillful expressions
Refers to how the components or parts of something are assembled and arranged to form a whole – organize message into a coherent and purposeful order
You can’t undo communication; it is irreversible; interpersonal communication channels are the physical and electronic media through which we express messages

13. Communication Models Communication models:
Identify the basic components in the communication process
Show how the various components related to and interact with one another
Help explain why a communicative act succeeds or fails

14. The Elements of Interpersonal Communication
Source-Receiver
Encoding-Decoding
Messages
Message Overload
Feedback
Feedforward
Channel
Noise
Context

15. Encoder
Participants

16. Sending Channel
Encoder
Decoder
Meaning
Encoder
Participants

17. Context Context Participants Context Context Sending Channel Noise
Encoder
Decoder
Noise
Meaning
Meaning
Decoder
Encoder
Participants
Feedback Channel
Context
Context

18. Messages Verbal and non-verbal messages that
express your thoughts and feelings; must be
sent and received.
Message Overload
Feedback
Feedforward

19. Channel
The medium through which message signals pass. The channel works like a bridge connecting source and receiver.

20. Noise
Anything that interferes with either sending or receiving a message.
Physical
Physiological
Psychological
Semantic
For examples, see Table 1.1 on page 6

21. Four Types of Noise Type of Noise Definition Example Physical
Interference that is external to both speaker and listener; interferes with the physical transmission of the signal or message
Screeching of passing cars, hum of computer, sunglasses
Physiological
Physical barriers within the speaker or listener
Visual impairments, hearing loss, articulation problems, memory loss
Psychological
Cognitive or mental interference
Biases and prejudices in senders and receivers, closed-mindedness, inaccurate expectations, extreme emotionalism (anger, hate, love, grief)
Semantic
Different meanings assigned by speaker and listener
Language difference, use of jargon or overly complex terms not understood by listener

22. Context
The environment that influences the form and content of communication.
Physical
Cultural
Social-Psychological
Temporal (timing)

23. Context – the Setting
Physical – where communication takes place, the environment, the distance between participants, seating, time of day
Social – the nature of the relationship
Historical – the background of previous communication
Psychological – the moods and feelings
Cultural – the set of beliefs, values, and norms that are shared by a large group of people

24. Critical Thinking
Competence in interpersonal communication depends on critical thinking
Critical thinking is logical thinking; it’s thinking that is well reasoned, unbiased, and clear
It enables you to ask and answer questions of clarification or challenge, to draw and evaluate conclusions, and to organize your thoughts and speak or write them coherently.

25. The Nature of Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the thought process you use to analyze what you read, see, or hear to arrive at a logical conclusion or decision
Good critical thinkers know how to develop and defend a position on an issue, ask probing questions, be open-minded, and draw reasonable conclusions. They are highly skilled listeners.

26. Critical Thinking About Claims
A claim is a statement that identifies your belief or position on a particular issue or topic.
Critical thinkers know how to separate claims of fact ( a statement that can be proved true or false) from claims of inference
An inference is a conclusion based on claims of fact
When you accept an inference as a fact, you are jumping to conclusions that may not be accurate

27. Critical Thinking About Fallacies
A fallacy is an error in thinking that has the potential to mislead or deceive others; can be intentional or unintentional. Fallacies:
Attacking the person – attacking the person rather than the content of the message
Appeal to authority – when a supposed expert has no relevant experience on the issues being discussed
Appeal to popularity – claims an action is acceptable or excusable because many people are doing it
Appeal to tradition – a certain action should be followed because that is the way it was done in the past
Faulty cause – when you claim a particular event or situation is the cause of another event before considering other possible causes
Hasty generalization – you jump to a conclusion based on too little evidence or too few experiences

28. The Nature of Reflective Practice
Reflection refers to critically thinking about an experience as it occurs or after it occurs; it is part of the learning process and takes time and practice
To reflect meaningfully, use effective listening, critical thinking skills, and objective observations
The intention of reflective practice is to gain clearer and deeper understanding of our experiences; it involves taking the time to review and ask questions to understand yourself and others

29. Your Turn
Think critically about interpersonal communication, keeping the following ideas in mind.
The study of interpersonal communication involves theory, research, and practical skills for increasing interpersonal effectiveness. A knowledge of theory will help you better understand the skills, and a knowledge of skills will help you understand theory.
The principles discussed throughout this course relate directly to your everyday interactions. To help make this material easier to assimilate, try to recall examples from your own communications to illustrate the ideas considered in the course.
Be willing to change your ways of communicating and even your ways of thinking about interpersonal communication. Carefully assess what you should strengthen or revise and what you should leave as is.

30. Complete the question – Can you give an example of a situation in which you experimented with ways of communicating different from your usual?
Regarding this course, answer the eight questions from the “Questions Implied by the Universal Structures of Thought”
These are in your EZ Guide. Please complete them there.

31. Communication Theories, Strategies and Skills
Theories: statements that explain how the world works; describe, explain, and predict events and behaviour
Communication theories come from observation, empirical research, scholarship – they help you understand what is happening when you communicate and why it is sometimes effective and sometimes ineffective
Learning about theories will not make you a more effective communicator

32. Communication Theories, Strategies and Skills (cont)
Strategies are the specific plans of action you select to help you communicate
Strategies are based on theories; if you don’t understand theory, you won’t know why strategies work in one situation and fail in another
Strategies based on theory help you understand when, where, why, and how to use a particular strategy most effectively
Learning about strategies is not enough

33. Communication Theories, Strategies and Skills (cont)
Skills are the tools or techniques you use to communicate. They are:
How to be more assertive
How to think critically
How to resolve conflicts
How to speak clearly
How to organize a message
How to explain complex concepts or persuade others
Skills are most effective when based on theory

34. Communication Theories, Strategies and Skills (cont)
Knowledge plays a role similar to theories and strategies: it describes what to do and why to do it. Skills represent how to do it

35. Communicating Ethically
Communication has consequences
Is it fair?
Is it right?
Is it deceptive?
Ethics requires an understanding of whether communication behaviours meet agreed-on standards of right and wrong

36. Is It Ethical to
Exaggerate your virtues to get a job?
Tell the truth if it causes hurt feelings?
Hold threats or promises over someone?
Ignore someone else’s cheating?
Conceal your emotions from your partner?
Swear you’ll keep a secret—and then tell it?

37. Your turn again!  Complete “Check Your Ability” in EZ Guide
Please bring laptops to next class. If you don’t have access to one, get one from the library. You will need your student ID card.

38. Wait a minute… we are not quite done…
Please go to your EZ Guide in to complete your assignments.