Empathic listening is the process of listening to others with compassion. It requires patience and being open-minded. The listener mirrors themselves to the speaker’s situation to better understand their emotions or feelings. This is because the end goal is to create trust and connection. One tries to encourage the speaker to open up and continue speaking by not interrupting, arguing, or being judgmental. Through empathic listening, the speaker feels supported, eases up, and thus divulges underlying problems.
Interpersonal communication is carried out by people when they are together. It involves communication between people with a relationship based on trust, care for each other, and openness. Just like breathing, one perceives and talks to others all their lives (Stewart, 2012). Effective communication is vital because if there is a breakdown in communication, the unintended message may be sent, or the listener may perceive the message sent incorrectly. This creates confusion and may lead to embarrassing or disastrous outcomes.
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Various skills are needed to make interpersonal communication effective. They include attentiveness, open questioning, reinforcements, non-interruption, self-disclosure, sensitivity, and reflection. Paying attention to body language and other nonverbal cues help identify the different emotions and unspoken messages sent by the other party. Such helps one guide the speaker into communicating underlying problems.
Improved interpersonal communication skills contribute to better relationships among people. Such, in turn, enhances physical health and quality of life (Stewart, Zediker & Witteborn , 2005). Stewart, Zediker & Witteborn (2005) further notes that bad communication skills lead to misuse of power that causes deception, betrayal, and hurt in relationships. If we lack the skills necessary for communication, we may hurt others since communicating effectively and emphatically with others may reduce the hurt. Skills that enhance good interpersonal communication are essential since they help one relate and connect better with those around them. They are also used to manage and solve conflicts.
References
Stewart, J. (2012). BRIDGES NOT WALLS: A BOOK ABOUT INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-07-353431-2.
Stewart, J., Zediker, K. E., & Witteborn, S. (2005). TOGETHER: COMMUNICATING INTERPERSONALLY A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION APPROACH (6th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. http://www.johnstewart.org/together/
