essay about interpersonal communication

Ellison

Speech 1311

Sunday March 23, 2014

Journal #2

Instructor: Spence

WH 211

Humans interact with one another on a daily basis and it is not always through verbal language. It may be difficult to realize that personal appearance and body position can speak louder than words. Although, language, syntax and words are written or spoken to communicate daily, one can see and receive different underlined meanings. Nonverbal communication is defined as, to reveal information through methods that don’t involve any known language. There are several different ways to express and communicate nonverbally. For example, body language and appearance can describe how one is feeling or position in society. A dirty poorly clothed person on the side of the street with a backpack and a cigarette hunting down a lighter can make one think this person is homeless or helpless. On the other hand, if the individual was wearing clown costume then they give off the appearance being funny and friendly.

Nonverbal communication can be easily used to deceive and persuade other individuals into committing to certain choices. For instance, at the final table in the world series of poker tournament the players constantly are sending out nonverbal clues about what lies in their hand. Which signals do they trust when millions of dollars are on the line? The winners of these tournament sometimes is based on luck, but most of the time the winner is better at hiding or reading nonverbal clues than the opponent. By using deceiving signals to convince their opponents to fold or raise. In Conclusion, nonverbal communication can be interpreted in many different ways and can be often misleading or misread. It is important to verify your perceptions to ensure you have interpret nonverbal communication correctly.

Verbal and nonverbal communication have many differences. For example, verbal communication using formal language to deliver messages and is normally direct and intentional. They normally speak in a manner of understanding and information is passes from one another. But, nonverbal communication is more complex and always present. Often, it is unintentional and the individual is unaware of the signals that they are displaying.

Communication climate is defined by the individuals’ personal feelings towards another. It is strictly based on emotions and not the ability to complete task. It can be broken down into two sections positive and negative climates. The way to find out which climate people are in they rely on how important they are in the situation. The communication climate start as soon as two people start talking one another and start reading verbal and nonverbal cues. Soon the positive or negative climate well start to form as people’s emotions start judging the individual. The ability to create a positive communication climate is important and it will be used throughout life.

This summer, I was in a free Veteran’s to Learn I.T. program where they taught several classes in a fast track fashion. After two months, I was level one help desk ready and got my CompTIA A+ certificate. I’m proud to say I was the first one in my class to pass both exams and receive my certificate, and I did it before anyone could even pass the first exam. After the classroom portion of the program, I was supposed to be interviewing for a ten week internship at many different big name companies. Due to my ability to create negative communication climates with most of the faculty and staff, I was pretty much dead last to get an interview. As I sit back and watch all those who failed their certification exams getting the interviews and I wasn’t, I wondered why. Recently, coming from a job of being an Airborne Infantrymen where the only concerned is being number one at every task, all I knew was needed to change my game plan.

I remember something I learned while I was in the service and that I need to understand my role. That means to me keep talking to a minimum, don’t state my opinion, and show false motivation as needed because I was just a student. Out of 16 students, there were only five of us left without internships and I was one of them. After a week, I still had no interview and was starting to lose faith in the program. The other remaining students were very unhappy and some of them stopped showing up to class. After two weeks, they got a call from Deloitte for an intern position and three of us got an interview. Due to staying positive, I was able keep my patients and had a great interview. Obviously, my resume was better than the other two people, so I ended up getting that position. My relationship got better with the program and I got a great experience out of my eight weeks at Deloitte’s I.T. Help Desk in downtown Dallas. I found it extremely challenging to be nice to the staff member who set the failures up with internships before me. I learned that at time things aren’t fair and the best person for the job can be just someone’s biased opinion. Creating a positive communication climate was the best approach to my situation and everything worked out in the end.

Reference

Adler, R., Rodman, G. R., & DuPré, A. (2017). Understanding human communication. Oxford University Press.