Improving Communication Competence Essay

Interpersonal Communication is very important, whether it is in a business organization such as staff meetings, project discussion and the likes, marketing, or even the development of social skills. However, despite the importance of Interpersonal Communication, it is always taken for granted and never given much importance. It must be taken into account that all aspects of Interpersonal Communication play a very important role during communicating. If the aspects involved are employed in the right way, there wouldn’t be any problem when one wishes to share his or her ideas to those he or she is communicating with. Among all aspects, Proxemics, which is defined as the spatial separation in relation to both the social and physical environment, plays a very significant role in interpersonal communication (Darn, 2005). Depending on the distance of the speaker from his audience, if one has an unnecessary big amount of space between them which also depends on how many people there are in one’s audience, then, one might experience communication problems. If a group of people were to meet a person who keeps his distance, probably what comes first to their mind is that he is hesitating. A lot of other aspects of interpersonal communication follow Proxemics. If he is hesitant to keep a closer distance, then there is a possibility that he will not be making much eye contact, he would have mannerisms like tapping his feet or finger drumming, or maybe he would be speaking in a much lower voice which would be a great problem given the circumstance that he is keeping his distance or appearing to be somewhat aloof. Proxemics is the first sign one sees in a person who appears to be shy in speaking his mind. It is an aspect that should definitely be improved because it leads to far other more important parts of interpersonal communication. Indeed, first impression is significant. Even if one tries to give out the point he or she wishes to deliver, he or she may find it difficult to achieve because they may find him or her to be boring or uninteresting speaker. Proxemics should be an aspect a person gives great importance to. Uncertain Reduction Theory and Impression Formation Theory Uncertain Reduction Theory, or simply URT, is the way a person acts to reduce the uncertainty he or she has towards a person (Berger and Calabrese as cited in Uncertain Reduction Theory, 2002). This is mostly common with people who do not know much about each other, or who have just met. Of course, nobody wants to be awkward around other people, therefore he or she is trying to find ways to get more information from them. Normally, one starts to ask certain questions such as other people’s name, age, birth date, where they live, etc. then in the long run, when an individual and the people he interacts with already feel comfortable enough to talk about more personal things like beliefs, opinions, etc. t then gives an individual a chance to know other person better. On the other hand, Impression Formation is the way an individual puts information together about a certain person he or she is getting to know about, trying to come up or figure out what personality the other person possesses. The attitude the other person has, the information one might possibly gain out of talking to him, putting these together gives one an overview of how the person might actually be, without the need to know entirely everything about the person. Based on the researches made, URT and Information Formation go hand in hand. Initially, when one meets someone for the first time, he or she goes through the process of getting to know the other person better so the communication would be easier and without less tension. Without the need of getting the other person’s whole background information and merely basing the facts from the questions and small details drawn from a person, it would be of great help on how one should be acting towards the person. Then, after getting to know the person, one tries to put them all together, trying to come up with a main thought that would best describe the person one is dealing with. An individual tries to analyze what there is in that particular person, so that just like that in URT, he or she can act accordingly. One can adapt to his personality in some way, without having to guess or assume the wrong on the personality of the person. Without the help of these theories, it may result to communication problems between an individual and a particular type of audience. For example, you did not consider the possibility that the other person is shy and you completely have no idea whatsoever about the mode of speaking the other person has that when he or she later makes a conversation that may be hard to discern, you would probably end up getting annoyed, bored, and create a bad impression against him or her given that you didn’t see that fact coming. You might even act inappropriately towards that person. Knowing the people you encounter, especially in businesses, is of great importance, even if it only a first impression. At least you have an idea on how you get along with a particular type of person Symbolic Interaction Theory Symbolic Interactionism, as conceptualized by Herbert Blumer, is the process of interaction in the formation of meanings (Nelson, 1998). It is the way we understand what a person wishes to say depending on the meaning he gives to a certain word or symbol. It does not mean that the way he defines a certain word or thought would be the same as we perceive it to be. However, through interactions, there is a possibility than we can understand clearly what he wishes to say. Based on Nelson’s term paper, Symbolic Interactionism plays a very strong role in communication. In her paper, she used her own experience to apply the theory of symbolic interaction. Her mode of communication was E-mail. And because communication only took place over the web as compared to talking on the phone where at least one could hear the tone of the voice of the person, she found out that it was a great effect in their misunderstanding. What she meant for a certain word was defined differently for the other person. She only perceived what she believes to be the meaning for the certain symbols, ignoring the fact that it may mean different to the other person. Through symbolic interaction, we can determine what a person really tends to say. We do not assume what he has in mind but instead, we try to connect their way of defining them to the way we perceive the way we understand it. Therefore, it plays a very vital role in interpersonal communication. People should be more attentive to the way a person acts or responds. They should pay attention to the aspects of interpersonal communication. Through these aspects, you can somehow determine what message a person really means to impart, most especially in the tone of the voice because you can somehow understand what he really intends to say basing from it. All aspects should be taken into consideration, to make interpersonal communication effective. Conclusion  Learning the aspects of good interpersonal communication is very important especially in the business industry, where you constantly have to talk to a lot of different people every time By understanding these, you will see how it will make a big improvement on the way you talk in front of an audience because not only the words that come out of your mouth are enough. Even if you have a strong point you wish to share with your audience, lacking the important aspects of interpersonal communication would definitely affect the people who you wish to interact with.