Reflective Essay On Interpersonal Communication

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Initially when I registered for Interpersonal Communications it was solely to fulfill my USEM requirements and I reckoned the class as nothing more than an obstacle. My sour attitude did not last though, my first class on my very first day of college was my communications class and I felt extremely welcomed and intrigued. These feelings were reinforced when the second day of class brought an interactive outside activity. I happily participated in and the activity it created an enthusiastic impression within me for the classes to follow. In general—even prior to my communications class—I consider myself a skilled communicator and a friend that is more than willing to listen to someone’s struggles; however, I did not recognize how much psychology was behind the way we communicate. Prior to registering for the class I knew I had areas to improve upon such as body language, lack of self-disclosure, and attribution, all of which I created plans to therefore enhance, but I had no doubt in my capabilities to be empathetic, skillful at solving conflict, and confident while speaking in front of others. Throughout the class I realized that more often than my words, …show more content…

In fact psychologist Albert Mehrabian stated in 1972 that 93% of a message is non-verbal and that only 7% is verbal communication, (Alder 177). This is one of the more extreme standpoints by psychologists; however, it does explain the role of non-verbal communication and its importance. “Some theorists argue that it is impossible not to communicate,” suggesting that we are constantly sending and receiving messages (Alder