Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication is humanity’s most important characteristic and its greatest accomplishment. Interpersonal Communication is a complex process that can be described in simplified terms by a Sender and a Receiver who exchange messages containing ideas and feelings, mixed together. The Sender encodes the messages using Verbal, Vocal and Visual elements.

The words form the Verbal element. The Vocal element includes the tone and intensity of our voice .The Visual element incorporates everything the Receiver can see. the Visual, non-verbal element is the most powerful element, grabbing and holding Receiver’s attention.

Need of Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication helps the human to live together, work together and play together. We need each other for security, comfort, friendship and love. It help us to achieve our goals and objectives. The interpersonal communication is possible through dialogue or conversation.

Interpersonal Communication is the lifeblood of every relationship. Good relations are maintained by open, clear and sensitive communication.

Ineffective communication causes loneliness, conflicts, family problems, professional

dissatisfactions, psychological stress, physical illness and even death.

Interpersonal communication involves a direct face-to-face relationship between the sender

and receiver. Communication is enhanced when the relationship exists over a long period of time. Interpersonal communication involves the verbal words as well as the various elements of nonverbal communication.

The purposes of interpersonal communication are to influence, help and discover, as well as to share and play together. We communicate in order to:  Get acquainted  , Express emotions to others, Share information, Persuade others to understand our personal views , build relationships

Interpersonal communication can be categorized by the number of participants.

• Dyadic communication involves two people. Example: Two friends talking.

• Group communication involves three or more persons.

Often group communication is done for the purpose of problem solving or decision making. Example: University study group.

• Public communication involves a large group with a primarily one-way monologue style generating only minimal feedback. Information sharing, entertainment and persuasion are

common purposes of public communication. Example: Lecture in university class.

• Organizational communication deals with communication within large organizations such as businesses. . Example: Work focused discussion between employer and employee.

• Family communication focuses on communication patterns within blended families.

Family communication can be enhanced by the long-standing and close relationships among participants as well as the likelihood that families have shared heritage, similar values, and social rituals. Patterns differ in communication between spouses, between parent and child, among siblings, and within the wider family context.

•    Mediated Interpersonal Communication: Mediated interpersonal communication involves technology that assists or links the sender and receiver of messages. Mediated communication offers the advantage that it allows people to communicate over a distance or throughout a time span that would not be possible in direct communication. E-mail offers instantaneous global communication, and cell phones are highly mobile. Computer technology makes it possible for people to do their job without being physically present, allowing them to work from their home or from across the world.