Interpersonal Communication

Communication is not an easy process.   It involves verbal and non-verbal attempts to assist the other person to understand what we are trying to communicate.   Yet it often fails.
Communication occurs every day in our lives and it happens in every situation.   All our daily activities require us to communicate in one form or the other.   It is important to communicate in order to pass on information to people that we interact with.
Communication is any action, verbal and nonverbal, which is conveyed by a person and received and understood by at least one other person.   These actions or behaviors can be ideas, feelings, values and attitudes.   When the receiver perceives the message, a meaning is obtained from the message.   A relationship is formed between people as they engage themselves in a communication process.
Communication can take place with or without words. Our communication output is composed of verbal, vocal and visual signs or signals.   Verbal signals are words or speech that we speak.   Vocal signals are the characteristics of our voice when we speak for example the tone, the volume or the speed of our speech and visual signals are all those actions that the receiver sees.   These include facial expressions, body movement, posture and dress.  
Successful communication often goes by unnoticed, while poor communication becomes obvious.   It is important that we identify the factors that contribute to poor communication.   These factors become barriers to effective communication.   Some of these barriers include:
• Differences In Perception
The way a person may interpret or understand a message vary from one person to the other.   These may be influenced by life experiences, feelings or expectations.   For example I find classic old hits to be relaxing and entertaining while my partner finds them too boring and out of date.
• Poor Listening Skills
Poor listening skill is also a barrier as it can lead to misunderstanding, incorrect perception, and it also...