Communication is a complex discipline; a conversation’s outcome depends on how a sender encodes information to be transmitted and how a receiver decodes the received data. The communication channel you choose poses an additional challenge. Sounds complicated? No worries. It isn’t!
This is no surprise: the channels and tools with which humans communicate with each other have changed a lot during the last decade. And each generation chooses different preferred communication channels. While technology is advancing rapidly, face-to-face and traditional forms of communication will likely play a vital role in how people interact. Today’s technology compels us to expand the definition of interpersonal communication to include email, Slack, virtual meetings, and various messenger services. However, this does not mean that personal communication disappears. It is given a different status.
Nothing can replace a face-to-face conversation
Interpersonal communication entails exchanging information, meaning, feelings, and opinions between at least two people via verbal or non-verbal means.
There are many benefits to personal, face-to-face communication:
- It improves emotional, social, and mental health.
- It strengthens existing connections
- It deepens trust and transparency
- A personal conversation improves problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills
But there are also challenges: although we like to think we’re saying exactly what we mean, that’s not always true. Especially when we’re talking to someone who uses a communication style very different from our own or is not a native speaker of the language we are communicating.
Therefore, to avoid misunderstandings, communication should always be concise, concrete, complete, and courteous.
Active listening is another essential tool. Effective communication consists of speaking and listening carefully to your conversation partner is one of the most critical requirements for a proper conversation. It is what enables us to form meaningful connections and relationships.
What could the future of personal communication look like?
Wearable devices such as smartwatches, smart glasses, and other wearables will become more prevalent, and these devices will be used to communicate with others through gestures or voice commands.
New forms of communication that we can’t even imagine could emerge in the future. For example, telepathic or holographic communication may become a reality.
Children might even communicate with AI-assisted chatbots or digital assistants that can understand and respond to their language in real time.
We will have to wait and see what the future of communication will bring – but as long as humans are involved in face-to-face conversations, personal communication will play an important role in relationship-building and problem-solving.