Objective: To assess your own interpersonal communication competence toward a goal of improving your interpersonal communication skills.
Your paper will focus on this question: “How would I describe my interpersonal communication competence?” You will use the Interpersonal Communicator Competence Instrument as a starting point for your paper (see p. 23 in Workbook). Note that you should analyze your knowledge of interpersonal communication competence at this point in time. To respond to the question above, do the following:
A. Provide your competency scores on all six ICC dimensions in a table. The table should be placed in the paper after the introduction to the paper as follows. If needed, decrease the font size to make the table fit in the 1-inch margins.
Table 1. My Scores on the Interpersonal Communicator Competency Scale
Adaptability
Conversational Involvement
Conversational Management
Empathy
Effectiveness
Appropriateness
Your Name
B. Define in your own words what effective means. Your definition should be a paraphrased from the definition provided in the textbook or workbook. Provide an argument for how effective you are in interpersonal relationships. If you are unclear about what we mean by “interpersonal relationships,” look it up in Chapter 1 of your textbook. In your argument, provide examples for your claim that you are/are not effective.
C. Define in your own words what appropriate means. Provide an argument for how appropriate you are in interpersonal relationships. In your argument, provide examples for your claim that you are/are not appropriate.
D. Select another dimension of competency from Table 1 that you scored relatively high on. Define that dimension in your own words and generate an argument for why you are good at that particular aspect of competency. In your argument, provide examples.
E. Not including effective and appropriate, select a dimension from the table above that you score low on. Define that dimension in your own words and generate an argument for why you are relatively weak at that particular aspect of competency. If you score lowest on effectiveness or appropriateness, please choose one of the other four dimensions since you will have already discussed and defined these terms. In your argument, provide examples.
F. Go back to the scoring page of the questionnaire. At the bottom of page 2, you can calculate your scores for communicator competence motivation, knowledge, and skill. Report these three scores and define each competence. Reflect on which of these you are poorest at (i.e., your lowest score). If you do not have a single low score, choose one to write about. Why are you relatively poorest at this aspect of competency? What are your examples for that claim? What can you do in your communication behavior to improve on this aspect? How would you go about doing so?
G. Interview one person who knows you well about one of the issues above (B-F). Make sure you refer to that person in your paper (e.g., I interviewed my best friend Paul about my conversational management competency, and he commented that “….”). This interview is a great piece of examples to back a claim that you make about yourself. You can, of course, refer to your interview whenever you like (e.g., it can be examples for more than one point), but you only need to refer to it at least once. Note: You cannot argue with this person, denigrate them, or tell them that they are wrong. You are asking them to help you and thus, you should listen carefully to what they have to say and thank them for their help. Also note: You must turn in your contact information for the person you interviewed. Contact information includes the person’s name, relationship to you, and email. Attach a sheet of paper behind the reference page (e.g., this will be the last page of your paper) that has that contact information.
