Effective Interpersonal Communication

Learn how to communicate effectively your ideas to others. The two parts of a message – the content and the message – must complement each other.

Be sure of the appropriateness of the entire message you send. The major barriers to successful communication are message overload, and message complexity. You must also realize that both the sender and the receiver filter messages and that the message they sent may not be the message that was received.

For effective communication, avoid both too little and too much communication. Break complex messages into parts and carefully explain the relationship of the parts. Pay attention to the messages being transmitted, avoid premature evaluation of messages, and make use of a vocabulary common to the individual whom the communication is being directed. Pay also attention to psychological phenomena that can interfere with effective communication.

Defensive reactions operate in everyone without the individual being conscious of their operation. Any communication from either a senior or a subordinate that is considered threatening can evoke a defensive reaction.

To improve interpersonal communication and overcome the above barriers,

• begin the communication process with the formulation of a message that is clear and concise;

• don’t communicate in a haste, if required, transmit the message in several different forms;

• use words that are part of the common vocabulary of the individual with whom you communicate; recognize that different groups have different common vocabularies and be prepared to change vocabularies as needed;

• find a way to get your audience to explain what they think you said, discuss differences until you hear a satisfactory version of the message you wanted to convey;

• seek confirmation of understanding of the message you sent, ask the receiver to repeat your message in words other that those originally used to transmit the message;

• be attentive to both verbal and non-verbal messages, in both sending and receiving;

• know which questions to ask – it will help you get the right response;

• for very important communications, keep a written record so that later disputes regarding meaning can be resolved by consulting the original message.

Discover much more

in the mini-course