Interpersonal Communication

Competence in interpersonal communication can be assessed both through general interpersonal interactions and non-verbal communication. Both general competence and non-verbal competence are very important to the way that we communicate and have great influence on the message that we relay to those with whom we communicate. After watching the conversation recorded between Matt and I, I have realized that although there are some areas in which I am a competent communicator, there are areas where I could benefit to improve.

General Interpersonal Competence-

According to Canary, Cody, and Manusov, there are six criteria used to assess general interpersonal competence. These six standards are: adaptability, conversational involvement, conversational management, empathy, effectiveness, and appropriateness (p. 506). To evaluate my personal overall competence in interpersonal communication, I am going to focus on adaptability, conversational involvement, conversational management, and attentiveness.

Adaptability, which is the way we change our behaviors to be appropriate for different interpersonal situations, has six factors: social experience, social composure, social confirmation, appropriate disclosure, articulation, and wit (Canary, Cody, & Manusov, 2008, p. 506). Social experience is the idea that we have participated in social interactions before, and because of this we are able to develop communication skills on our own that teach us how to interact in certain situations. This is pretty standard for most people, including myself. Although with every conversation I have I learn something more about communicating and how to be a good communicator, I would suggest that I have had enough social interaction in my life to at lea...

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...ssions, gaze and the majority of my kinesics were appropriate and sending the right message with the exception of using my pointer finger in conversation, which could prove to be disrespectful to some. My physical appearance, however, could have used some work and the message that I was sending was not necessarily the one that I was trying to send, but as I said before, in different situations I would present myself in a more appropriate manner than just rolling out of bed and going to class. Overall, from watching the video, I would say that I have the abilities to be a very strong communicator in most situations, but there are times when I do not use my abilities to their greatest potential. I feel that communication is a lifelong process in which we have the opportunity to learn something new with every verbal and non-verbal message that we send and receive.