Key Takeaways – Interpersonal Communication

Good Interpersonal skills are critical to your overall success as a business communicator. Key takeaways to help you reach this goal include:

• Nonverbal communication is the process of conveying a message without the use of words; it relates to the dynamic process of perception, listening, and verbal communication.
• Nonverbal communication can be categorized into eight broad categories: space, time, body movements,  paralanguage, appearance, touch, environment, and artifacts.
• Nonverbal communication is universal, culturally based, and confusing. It can add to or replace verbal communication and can be conscious or unconscious.
• Nonverbal communication communicates feelings and attitudes, and people tend to believe nonverbal messages more than verbal ones.
• The quality of any workplace culture depends on the ethical conduct of its leadership and employees, with everyone treating one another with respect and speaking responsibly
• Culture is a complex system of beliefs, attitudes, and values shared by a group.
• People in low-context cultures (e.g. Canada) and high-context cultures (e.g. China) have different communication patterns based on the five dimensions of culture: context, individualism, formality, time orientation, and communication style.