EFFECTIVE INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

EFFECTIVE INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Effective communication helps us better understand a person or situation and enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and create environments where creative ideas, problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish. Much of what we try to communicate to others and what others try to communicate to us gets misunderstood, which can cause conflict and frustration in personal and professional relationships. By learning effective communication skills, we can better connect with your spouse, kids, friends, and coworkers.

Effective communication is about more than just exchanging information; it is about understanding the emotion behind the information. Effective communication can improve relationships at home, work, and in social situations by deepening your connections to others and improving teamwork, decision-making, and problem solving. It enables you to communicate even negative or difficult messages without creating conflict or destroying trust. Effective communication combines a set of skills including nonverbal communication, attentive listening, the ability to manage stress in the moment, and the capacity to recognize and understand your own emotions and those of the person you’re communicating with.

Listening

Listening is one of the most important aspects of effective communication. Successful listening means not just understanding the words or the information being communicated, but also understanding how the speaker feels about what they’re communicating.

Effective listening can:

Make the speaker feel heard and understood which can help build a stronger, deeper connection between you.
Create an environment where everyone feels safe to express ideas, opinions, and feelings, or plan and problem solve in creative ways.
Save time by helping clarify information, avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.
Relieve negative emotions. When emotions are running high, if the speaker feels that he or she has been truly heard, it can help to calm them down, relieve negative feelings, and allow for real understanding or problem solving to begin.

Tips for effective listening

Focus fully on the speaker, his or her body language, and other nonverbal cues. Try repeating the words of the speaker over and over and stay focused.
Avoid interrupting or trying to redirect the conversation to your concerns. Listening is not the same as waiting for your turn to talk. You can’t concentrate on what someone’s saying if you’reforming what you’re going to say next. Often, the speaker can read your facial expressions and know that your mind’s elsewhere.
Avoid seeming judgmental. In order to communicate effectively with someone, you don’t have to like them or agree with their ideas, values, or opinions. However, you do need to set aside your judgment and withhold blame and criticism in order to fully understand a person.
Show your interest in what’s being said. Nod occasionally, smile at the person, and make sure your posture is open and inviting. Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments.

When we communicate things that we have interest in, we do so mainly using nonverbal sign. Non verbal communication, or body language, includes facial expressions, body movement and gestures, eye contact, posture, the tone of the voice, and even muscle tension and breathing. The way a person looks, listens, moves, and reacts tells more than when words are used.

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