Effective interpersonal communication is an essential part of building and maintaining healthy relationships, both personally and professionally. Good communication skills are crucial in resolving conflicts, creating trust, and achieving common goals. Effective interpersonal communication involves both verbal and nonverbal cues and requires active listening, clear and concise speaking, and being open to feedback. It also involves being aware of cultural and social differences and being able to adapt to different communication styles. This essay analyzes miscommunication instances from the video, “Failure to Communicate” while addressing two principles of effective interpersonal communication: acknowledging multiple views and respecting others and yourself.
Acknowledging multiple views is one of the six principles of competent communication. It is about being open to different perspectives and being willing to consider multiple viewpoints. This can be done by actively listening to others, asking questions, and being open to feedback (Bevan, 2020). It also means being able to see things from different angles and being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes. Being open to different perspectives allows for a more thorough understanding of a situation and can lead to more creative and effective solutions (Bevan, 2020). In the video, “Failure to Communicate,” both characters followed this principle and tried to approach the communication issue from different sides (Legrand, 2011). It is clear that the characters were aware of what was happening around them and also, they attempted to understand each other even though the circumstances were not in favor of them, which is a right strategy by Bevan (2020).
Respecting others and yourself is another principle that is about treating others with dignity and respect and also having respect for yourself. This means treating others with kindness and understanding, being empathetic and showing empathy, and being able to disagree without being disagreeable. It also means being able to communicate your own needs and wants in a respectful manner (Bevan, 2020). By treating others with respect, we create an environment of trust and understanding, which is necessary for effective communication. In the video, the characters were different regarding their religion and ethnicity, one of them was also deaf (Legrand, 2011).
They followed the above-mentioned principle and were respectful with each other during communication (Bevan, 2020). Moreover, in the video, there was a physical noise because the characters were in a metro station, and the deaf girl could not hear another girl. When they tried to communicate, a train’s sounds and the dispatcher’s voices were hindering the characters from communicating with each other. As Bevan (2020) suggested, such physical noise could be overcome by changing the location and asking for help from others.
In conclusion, acknowledging multiple views and respecting others and yourself are two principles of effective interpersonal communication that are essential for building and maintaining healthy relationships. It is important to remember that effective interpersonal communication is a skill that can be developed and improved through practice and self-awareness. The video was about miscommunication that was caused by outside factors, yet both characters followed the two principles of effective communication.
References
Bevan, J. L. (2020). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication (3rd ed.). University of Arizona Global Campus.
Legrand, T. (2011). A failure to communicate [Video]. YouTube. Web.