Page 27 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

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Understanding Communication | 15

How an academician forms perceptions about himself and the role of this
self-perception in developing self-esteem is the domain of intrapersonal com-
munication. How a communicator perceives himself/herself, how he estimates
his self-worth, and the way he/she talks to herself/himself, positively or nega-
tively is heavily reflected in interpersonal communication. In other words,
it is a reflection of interpersonal communication. Do students like teachers
who perceive themselves as inadequate persons or have low self- esteem?
A teacher who is confident and has positive self-esteem may be liked by
his students well. Similarly a student who is not confident may not be able
to respond to the questions (of the teachers) without any anxiety. Students
who are more confident would take the initiative of standing before a crowd
or in an assembly and deliver a lecture. In these kinds of instances teach-
ers are to identify those who have problems in intrapersonal communica-
tion and extend the desired help to the students so that they overcome them.
Michenbaum, a cognitive-behavioural therapist, has done extensive work and
named his method as ‘Self-instructional training’. He holds the view that the
way one instructs or talks to oneself can be modified. His research has proved
that negative self-talk can be translated into positive self-talk. Intrapersonal
communication is the first step towards interpersonal communication.

Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication is a transaction between people and their envi-
ronment, which includes other individuals such as friends, family, children, co-
workers, and even strangers. Communication is now seen as a transaction in
which both parties are active. The parties are not necessarily equally active—that
is more likely in the case of interpersonal communication, less so in the case of
mass media and their audiences—but the transaction is in some way functional
to both parties. Information follows both ways to a greater and a lesser degree.
As mentioned earlier, interpersonal communication is a reflection of
intrapersonal communication. The converse can also hold true. Sometimes
problems in interpersonal communication result in problems related to
intrapersonal communication. A teacher may approach the principal to
seek approval for leave. The principal may refuse to sanction the leave. The
teacher might then get involved in a verbal confrontation with the principal.
The issue might remain unresolved as the teacher is expected to a class at
that very moment. He, thus, starts perceiving himself as powerless, broods
over the issue, and fails to attend to his students.
It is observed that most people who write about interpersonal communi-
cation appear to insist that the more communication one has, the better his/
her relations will be. However, more may not always be better. It is also seen
by researchers that how people see each other (‘interpersonal perceptions’)
may have a significant effect on how those individuals interact.

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