The communication process

The communication process

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills reflect our ability or inability to interact and
communicate with others in constructive ways. How effective our
interpersonal skills are will determine the success of our social and
work interactions.
In face to face situations, the basis of interpersonal communication
is the ability to:
·  listen
·  assist each other
·  interact congenially with other people.
It has been found that ideas and topics are facilitated more readily
when discussions are as concise and specific as possible. This can be
achieved through ‘checking understanding’ or what is also
described as ‘active listening’ whereby when someone has finished
what he or she is saying the individual listening then condenses the
information and reiterates the important points back to the
speaker. Achieving this necessitates being able to focus on what is
being said by mentally reformatting the speaker’s words in order to
understand the specific points of the discussion.

Non-verbal communication

In face-to-face situations there is generally a great deal of
communication taking place through non-verbal language (e.g.,
body language, tone of voice, facial expressions) even though the
dominant mode of communication is speaking. This non-verbal
communication is taken for granted in face-to-face conversations,
but communicating is more than speaking and listening. It is these
non-verbal elements of communication that can provide a great
deal of information and can be an important means of learning.