Interpersonal Communication Journal: Week 1 Reflection and Analysis

This journal entry is a reflection on the student's interpersonal communication strategies during the first week of a term. The student documents their interactions with peers, focusing on communication styles, language use, and nonverbal cues. The entry highlights observations on how communication varies among different age groups, particularly the differences in communication with peers compared to older individuals. The student analyzes the use of informal language, interruptions, and nonverbal behaviors like hand gestures and physical contact. The journal also touches upon the handling of cultural differences and the impact of silence. The student acknowledges the importance of effective communication for building relationships and coping with stress, and identifies areas for improvement, such as active listening. References to key communication theories and studies are included to support the analysis of interpersonal dynamics.

Running Head: JOURNAL
JOURNAL
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
This will be a weekly journal and through this I will be documenting and reflecting on
my engagement with people and how I have applied interpersonal communication strategies
when it comes to communicating with the people in my life. Each week of my term will be
recorded in this. This will allow me to gain an insight into my day to day communication
styles and the reasons why I communicate with people. This is self exploratory exercise and it
will enable me to understand people's reactions to the way I communicate and make sure that
positive reactions are the only kind of reactions I get while communicating. Interpersonal
communication strategies are meant to enable better communication in between individuals
and therefore things like empathy, cultural consideration, listening skills and assertiveness are
important (Bodie, 2011). Today channel I will also reflect on the kind of languages I come
across and if my listening skills are proper as I have realized that people appreciate good
listeners. Communication structures tend to be varied for all kinds of people and even the
methods I follow while communicating with different kinds of people are different. It is only
natural because my relation to these varied people will always be different and it is upon how
close I am and the kind of relationship we share (Spencer-Oatey, 2004). Communication
styles are mostly based on what the other person deems appropriate and the personal
boundaries we have set up within ourselves. Somebody who is an extrovert I believe that
communication is the key to successful social and personal life. It is also the key to a
successful business venture and therefore I pay attention to it, hoping that my future
communication skills get better.

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Journal Entry
In the first week I paid attention to my communication strategies with people my age.
I kept a close I on how I communicate with my friends and classmates. I have also ensured
that I pay close attention to how I talk to junior associates and strangers who are my age. I
have realized that talking to people my age is an easier exercise than talking to people who
are constitutively elder to me because I need to and sure that they do not feel that I am
disrespecting them and also because I am too scared of making a communication mistake in
front of them. I am mostly relaxed while talking to people my age and I easily build up report
with them. Usually discuss music or sports and this enables me to familiarize myself to the
other. I have realized that people my age are not very intent on listening and often we
interrupt each other while talking about something very interesting and something we both
share mutually (Beebe, Susan & Mark, 2000). Communication and language in this kind of
company is usually very informal and colloquial in nature and often colloquial slangs are
used as terms of endearment or just for fun. Our nonverbal structures of communication
involve rigorous hand movements and often tap on each other’s backs as a form of
familiarity. However this can be problematic in case of five as people tend to push each other
and break into a struggle. Racism and cultural difference issues are rarely a problem because
we are very open and we are willing to make friends with people from different cultures as
they are very interesting and different from us (Goodykunst, Ting-Toomey & Chua, 1988).
We often remain silent while we are on our phones but in each other's company and that for
us is a comfort zone that we achieve after a long time of familiarity. Silence due to anger on
the other hand is never positively understood and this leads to fights. I hope that I can work
on my listening skills and stop interrupting other people while talking.

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Conclusion
Communication for me will always be a key to achieving a wider circle of
acquaintances. Effectively talking and communicating with people makes me shed my
inhibitions and burden and helps me cope with stress and pressure. I am yet to develop on a
lot of strategies of communication so that it is much more effective and positive in nature and
it does not lead to a lot of miscommunication and misinterpretation in the future. With much
more effective and better strategies I hope I will be able to you not only gather and informal
circle of acquaintances but also a formal circle of acquaintances who will be important for
my formal life as well.

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References
Gudykunst, W. B., Ting-Toomey, S., & Chua, E. (1988). Culture and interpersonal communication.
Sage Publications, Inc.
Beebe, Steven A., Susan J. Beebe, and Mark V. Redmond. Interpersonal communication.
Scarborough, Ont.: Prentice-Hall Canada, 2000.
Bodie, G.D., 2011. The understudied nature of listening in interpersonal communication: Introduction
to a special issue. The Intl. Journal of Listening, 25(1-2), pp.1-9.
Spencer-Oatey, H. ed., 2004. Culturally speaking: Managing rapport through talk across cultures.
A&C Black