Teaching Interpersonal Communication in a Business Communication Course

Too many people succumb to the mistaken belief that being likeable comes from natural, unteachable traits that belong only to a lucky few—the good looking, the fiercely social, and the incredibly talented. It’s easy to fall prey to this misconception.

"Think about how rare good listening is. It’s common for doctors to interrupt their patients within 11 seconds, even though patients may need 29 seconds to describe their symptoms.

And among managers who had been rated as the worst listeners by their employees, 94 percent of them evaluated themselves as good or very good listeners. In one poll, one-third of women said their pets were better listeners than their partners."

"Likeable people do better in life in general. They attract more people to them, along with opportunities and invitations. Some say they are likeable because they get more “breaks” than the average person. I think it’s the opposite, and there is a lot of research to back up my opinion. I wrote about the happiness advantage here.

"But if likeable people get further in life, can we become more likeable, or are we dealing with an inherited genetic code that has our gregarious dial preset before birth? No matter what our natural predisposition is, I’m certain we all can improve our likeability factor by changing a few key behaviors."

It takes just three seconds for someone to determine whether they like you and want to do business with you. Make that time count.

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• Scott Mautz is a motivational speaker, best-selling author, and former executive at Proctor & Gamble. 
• Mautz says that being likable is not only an important personal attribute, but one that he considers key to being successful in the business world, whether as a boss or an employee.
• Highly successful people are careful to avoid the most unlikable behaviors, which include humblebragging, being dramatic, needing constant validation, and giving shallow compliments.

"It’s not impossible to make your argument stick. And there’s been some good scientific work on this. Here are two strategies that, based on the evidence, seem promising."

"Learn why interpersonal skills are important in the workplace and how they can benefit students' careers."

Guess what? Everyone is busy, so while you might think the message you're sending is, "I'm really slammed," what the other person really hears is, "What I'm doing is more important than you." Once that divisiveness sets in, things can get toxic...fast.

Social psychologist Heidi Grant shares 4 common ways that we inadvertently make things weird for other people when we request their assistance. Read this before your next ask.

Here are several important facts about communicating when upset, followed by 6 practical steps for planning a calm and effective response.

It takes just three seconds for someone to determine whether they like you and want to do business with you. Make that time count.

Technology can be dehumanizing. Even our day-to-day personal interactions conducted in digital bursts risk losing the heart of who are. Kareem Yusuf shows how people have aimed to embed emotional "tone" into their digital lives, from text-messages to data. He explores why, in today's fully digitized and globalized world, we must strive to incorporate tone into everything we do.

Common qualities of extremely boring individuals include poor improv and storytelling skills, and not having any original opinions.

From poor etiquette at mealtime to behaviors that drive coworkers crazy, we're all familiar with these annoying things people do.

It starts with acceptance and reflection. Here are the specific steps you should follow."

"Body language is so much more than moving one’s hands or waving one’s arms — and it’s also something we should all get comfortable with using, says communications expert David PJ Phillips. Phillips has spent years analyzing 5,000 public speakers to identify what moves work — and which ones don’t — when talking to an audience."

There's a way to connect with anyone, from the CEO to a new acquaintance. Try asking them for advice.

"It’s clear that artificial intelligence (AI) will be an important part of the way we communicate and collaborate in the foreseeable future.

"Tying in AI technologies with business communication applications such as team collaboration and unified communications can improve worker productivity, save time, and improve the overall business flow."

Bovee and Thill are the only business communication authors who include coverage of artificial intelligence in these textbooks:  Business Communication Today and Excellence in Business Communication. See for yourself. Visit http://blog.businesscommunicationnetwork.com/texts

"Politicians and other public figures deploy particular rhetorical devices to communicate their ideas and to convince people, and it’s time that we all learned how to use them."

Most of us want to believe we would have flagged Hitler and Madoff right away had we met them in person. But would we have? In a thought-provoking new book, writer Malcolm Gladwell argues that our …

Few things in life will help you more than knowing how to make an immediate great impression. Make note of these impressive habits.

Small talk is widely detested — but also hard to avoid. Use these tips for making casual conversation so you can feel less awkward.

"Empathy is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. Research suggests that empathic people tend to be more generous and concerned with others’ welfare, and they also tend to have happier relationships and greater personal well-being. Empathy can also improve leadership ability and facilitate effective communication. 

"How well do you feel and understand what others are feeling?" Take the quiz and find out.