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Kaley Nouanesengsy

COMM 1010-037
Kanehara, Art
October 13, 2016

Interpersonal Theme Assignment


Communication may seem very forthright and straightforward to many
people. However, countless people misconstrue the true meaning behind words.
There are a variety of factors involved when communicating at work, home, and in
everyday life. Often, people view communication as a one-way street, meaning
they only rely on the person talking to effectively communicate. On the contrary,
effective communication makes use of all parties involved, through the sender and
the receiver. Various people believe that communication is verbal only. However,
there are also nonverbal cues that communicate emotions and other intended
messages to other people.
The sender of a message attempts to convey a message while the receiver
assigns a certain meaning to that message (pg. 9). People often rely exclusively on
the sender for operative communication. However, if the receiver does not do their
complete job, then the communication between the two may be all for naught. This
is essential for two people trying to get a task done in the most efficient manner. An
example of this would be during the time a friend and I were doing a group-oriented
project for school. I thought I had gone over the fundamentals as to how to get the
project done at home through our own time; however, during the next day in class, I

had come to find out that my friend had done nothing to contribute to the project!
Of course, I was frustrated. I thought my instructions were clear. Once I had calmed
down, I asked my friend why she did not do anything for the project. The reason
being was that she had forgotten the instructions. After reflecting on this, I
realized that this mistake was not merely on her, but mine as well. My friend had
told me she was too preoccupied (pg. 63) with other matters on her mind to even
comprehend most of what I was saying. Her mind could not focus on the message I
was relaying to her since she was pondering other issues besides the more
important one at hand. This was her mistake. However, my mistake was not
observing her nonverbal cues. At the time, I hadnt realized that she wasnt giving
me eye contact, and she was aimlessly nodding her head to every statement I
made. This experience has helped me realize that I should be making sure that the
person receiving my message is giving me cues that they are paying full attention
to me. I also hope that this helped my friend realize that she needs to be a better
listener.
There are various communication principles that people often take for
granted. One principle many people seem to forget is that communication is
irreversible (pg. 9). Once something has been said, it cant be unsaid, no matter
how hard someone tries to take it back. The memory of that message will be
forged in the other persons mind. This is especially imperative to remember during
heated disagreements. Once, during an argument with a friend, I had said
something to offend her. Of course, I hadnt actually meant it. Once I realized I said
it, I immediately felt regret. I apologized profusely, however, the damage was done.
No matter how many times I apologized, the memory of my message would still be
emblazoned in her mind. People should realize that once a message has been sent,

there is no way of taking it back. In the future, I hope to use this experience to be
more aware and open-minded about my actions. I hope to think before I speak.
Communicating intense feelings without rational thought may be critical when
discussing personal matters.
There are also various communication channels people need to consider
when communicating. Talking face-to-face versus talking via email is significantly
different. Overall, talking face-to-face offers the most richness (pg. 11). You can
sense numerous nonverbal cues, such as the tone of voice and eye contact.
However, through texting and emails, it is hard to decipher such cues. Once I had
been texting a friend and I had used sarcasm. However, my friend was unable to
detect sarcasm in my text. She did not have any other communication channels to
look out for besides the text she read. She could not decipher that I was merely
joking around. In my mind, I had thought that my playful, joking tone of voice
would transfer over through the text and that she would see my true intents clear
as day. However, this was not the case. My text was meant to be taken
lightheartedly, but my friend had taken offense to it. This experience has helped me
better understand that the richness in a conveyed message is highly critical for the
receiver to understand. Without certain nonverbal cues, your intended message
may mean something else entirely to another person.

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