1. Communicating Effectively
Human Adjustment John W. Santrock
Chapter 7:
Communicating Effectively
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2. Chapter Outline Exploring Interpersonal Communication
Verbal Interpersonal Communication
Nonverbal Interpersonal Communication
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3. Learning Goals
1. Describe the basic aspects of interpersonal communication.
2. Explain the keys to effective verbal interpersonal communication.
3. Describe the elements of nonverbal interpersonal communication.
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4. EXPLORING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Messages
The Transactional Aspect of Communication
Context
Defining Interpersonal Communication
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5. Messages Message = information being delivered from sender to receiver
Encoding - act of producing messages
Decoding - act of understanding messages
Noise - environmental, physiological, and psychological factors that decrease likelihood a message will accurately be encoded or decoded
Message = information being delivered from sender to receiver
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6. The Transactional Aspect of Communication
Communication includes both context and relationship dimension
Communication is transactional - ongoing process between sender and receiver
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7. Context Context - environment in which messages are sent and received
context influences form and content of social communication
context especially important in cross-cultural communication
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8. Defining Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication - ongoing transactional process that involves at least two individuals, each of whom acts as both sender and receiver
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9. Figure 7.1 Some Important Components of Interpersonal Communication
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10. Review - Learning Goal 1 What are key aspects of messages?
Why is interpersonal communication described as transactional?
How does context influence communication?
How can interpersonal communication be defined?
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11. VERBAL INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Speaking Skills
Listening Skills
Self-Disclosure
Conflict and Assertiveness
Gender and Verbal Communication
Barriers to Effective Verbal Communication
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12. Speaking Skills
To communicate effectively, speakers need to consider background, needs, and abilities of listeners
Denotation - objective meaning of words
Connotation - subjective meaning of words
Speakers must consider connotative meanings of words for listeners
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13. Speaking Skills
Messages conveyed more effectively when spoken in simple, concrete, and specific way
Good speakers make verbal and
nonverbal messages consistent
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14. Listening Skills
Hearing - physiological sensory process in which auditory sensations are received by the ears and transmitted to the brain
Listening - psychological process of interpreting and understanding what someone says
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15. Figure 7.2 Percentage of Time Spent by College Students in Different Communication Activities
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16. Adjustment Strategies for Becoming a Better Listener
1. Don’t hog the conversation
2. Pay careful attention to person talking
3. Use reflective listening and paraphrasing
4. Actively synthesize themes and patterns you hear
5. Give feedback in competent manner
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17. Self-Disclosure
Self-disclosure = communication of intimate details about ourselves
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18. The Johari Window
Johari Window divided into four areas:
open self (known to you and others)
hidden self (known to you but not to others)
blind self (known to others but not to you)
unknown self (not known to you or others)
Johari Window = model of self-disclosure that helps us understand proportion of information about ourselves that we and others are aware of
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19. Self-Disclosure in Relationships
Self-disclosure can deepen relationships
Deep relationships require risky self-disclosures which leave you vulnerable
Disclosing psychologically painful information requires that we trust the listener
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20. Figure 7.4 Some Self-Disclosure Risks
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21. Adjustment Strategies for Increasing Self-Disclosure
1. Proceed gradually
2. Recognize that people have different levels of intimacy needs
3. Begin with facts
4. When comfortable, include thoughts, feelings and needs
5. Try here-and-now communication
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22. Conflict and Assertiveness
People deal with conflict in one of four ways:
aggressive (often angry, being insensitive to others’ feelings)
manipulative (make others feel sorry or guilty)
passive (submissive, nonassertive; don’t express themselves)
assertive (act in own best interest by standing up for legitimate rights and expressing views)
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23. Adjustment Strategies for Becoming More Assertive
1. Evaluate your rights
2. Designate a time for discussing what you want
3. State problem in terms of how it might affect you
4. Describe the problem objectively
5. Express your feelings about the situation
6. Ask for what you want
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24. Gender and Verbal Communication
Women - less assertive in communication
Men - more aggressive in communication
Women - more rapport talk (conversation aimed at establishing connections and negotiating relationships)
Men - more report talk (talk designed to provide information)
Women - rely on self-disclosure more than men
Men - interrupt conversations more than women
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25. Barriers to Effective Verbal Communication
Judging may take the form of:
criticizing
name-calling and labeling
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26. Barriers to Effective Verbal Communication
Proposing solutions may take the form of:
advice
questioning
order
threat
moralizing
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27. Barriers to Effective Verbal Communication
Avoiding the others’ concerns may take the form of:
diverting
one-upping
logical argument
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28. Adjustment Strategies for Effective Verbal Expression
1. Make your message direct
2. Deliver your message immediately
3. Make your message clear
4. Deliver a straight message
5. Make your message supportive
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29. Review - Learning Goal 2
What are some important aspects of speaking skills?
What are some important aspects of listening skills?
What role does self-disclosure play in interpersonal communication?
What are four ways of dealing with conflict in communication?
Do men and women communicate differently?
What are some barriers to effective verbal communication?
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30. NONVERBAL INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Dimensions of Nonverbal Communication
Body Communication
Spatial Communication
Silence and Paralanguage
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31. Dimensions of Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication includes:
body communication (gestures, facial expression, touch)
spatial communication
paralanguage (voice)
Nonverbal communication = messages that are transmitted from one person to another by other than linguistic means
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32. Characteristics of Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal leakage - communication of true emotions through nonverbal channels even when person tries to conceal the truth verbally
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33. Detecting Deception Liars tend to:
Blink more and have dilated pupils
Show more self-manipulating gestures
Give shorter, negative, generalized responses
Speak in distancing way
Speak in higher pitch
Take more time to plan what to say
People are not very good at detecting deception
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34. Gender and Nonverbal Communication
Women tend to be better at reading people’s emotional cues
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35. Body Communication
Gestures - a motion of the limbs or body made to convey a message to someone else
Gestures are not universal
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36. Body Communication
Facial expressions can communicate important messages
Some facial expressions appear to be universal, but they can also vary among cultures
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37. Eye Communication
In the United States, eye contact serves four functions:
monitor feedback
signal a turn in the conversation
signal the nature of a relationship
compensate for physical distance
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38. Touch Communication
Touch plays important role in nonverbal communication
Touch expresses:
Sexuality
Consolation
Dominance
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39. Spatial Communication
Hall (1969) identified four zones in which we interact:
intimate distance
personal distance
social distance
public distance
Proxemics = study of communicative function of space
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40. Silence and Paralanguage
By being silent, a good listener can:
attend to the other person through body posture
observe the other by watching speaker’s eyes, posture, gestures
think about what other person is communicating
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41. Paralanguage
Paralanguage includes aspects such as:
rapidity of speech
volume of speech
pitch of speech
Paralanguage = the nonlinguistic aspects of verbal communication
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