Interpersonal Communication
Skyler Deason
Bingham High School
FHS 2400 Period 4
FCCLA Planning Process Worksheet
IDENTIFY CONCERNS
My mother and I have a very good relationship except that every once in a while we get into our little
arguments. I think it is funny because my brother and my sister refer to me and my mom an old married
couple.
SET A GOAL
I will improve my communications with my mother in two weeks by working on three communication
techniques: timing, “I” messages, and relfective and active listening.
FORM A PLAN
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WHO
I will work with my mother.
WHAT
I will work on three communication techniques with my mother. These techniques will be timing,
“I” messages, and reflective and active listening.
WHERE
I will preform this assignment at home with my mother.
WHEN
I will complete this assignment over winter break. If I need to I will finish the assignment when I
get back from winter break.
WHY
Because I live with my mother and I am around her the most. My mom is the most important
person in my life and I want to make sure that I have a strong communication foundation with
her especially now that I am might go out of state for college. I decided to perform this
interpersonal communication with my mom because I want to gain a better relationship with
my mother.
HOW
I will work on the three communication techniques by implimenting them in every day
conversations that I have with my mother.
ACT
My mom and I have worked on the three communication techniques mentioned above. I have worked on
these techniques during my winter break and finished once I got back form winter break. I still need to
work on all three of the communication techniques.
FOLLOW UP
I believe I have strengthened the three areas of communication that I have worked on. However I think
that I need to work on “I” messages more. Me and my mom both need to work on “I” messages because
they do not come very easily. I have improved greatly on my timing and reflective/ active listening. The
most helpful thing about this assignment was the fact that once I thought about what I needed to work on
I could stop myself when I started my bad communication techniques.
Project Rationale
I decided to work with my mother for the interpersonal communication project in FHS
2400 because I live with my mother and I am around her the most. My mother and I have a very
good relationship except that every once in a while we get into our little arguments. I think it is
funny because my brother and my sister refer to me and my mom an old married couple. My
mom is the most important person in my life and I want to make sure that I have a strong
communication foundation with her especially now that I am might go out of state for college. I
decided to perform this interpersonal communication with my mom because I want to gain a
better relationship with my mother.
Communication Techniques
I chose to work on three different types of communication during this project. The
communication concepts that I would like to work on are timing, “I” messages, and reflective
and active listening.
Timing
At the beginning of this project I wondered what three communication techniques that I
wanted to improve on. For a while I was not sure what I wanted to do my project on but then I
noticed that I started conversations at really poor times. I have really bad timing when it comes
to starting conversations. I do this with my mom, sister, brother, and dad as well as at school
with my friends and my teachers.
During the project I tried really hard to watch my timing when I would start
conversations. I tried to start conversations when I had the time to finish the conversation and
when my mom had the time to actively communicate with me. To me timing is not just the
physical time that it takes to communicate but also when thing are brought up in conversations.
When I talk to my mom about school I do not want to start talking about what we are going to
have for dinner. If I change subjects mid sentence I do not actively participate in what is going
being said in the conversation. It also means that I disrupt the flow of the conversation which can
and often is a destructive trait to have in a conversation.
“I” Messages
I chose to work on “I” messages with my mom because me and my mom have been
accused of bickering like an old married couple. I believe that by using “I” messages we could
calmly resolve conflicts instead of bickering. The thing that was funny about trying to work with
“I” messages was the fact that whenever my mom got mad at me I would have to remind her to
use “I” messages. She would get so tongue tied and frustrated that she would just stop talking
and walk away.
Reflective and Active Listening
When I am working on homework or watching television and my mom starts talking to
me I can have an entire conversation with her and at the end of the conversation I will not have a
clue what I said or what the conversation was about. I have had to ask my mom what we just
talked about many times. I want to work on this communication skill because it is a large portion
of communication.
Impact on Relationship
This project was extremely beneficial for me because I believe that it strengthened my
communication relationship that I have with my mom. We still have our fights and
disagreements but they are not so much fights as small arguments which have had more “I”
messages and I have made sure that I choose better times to bring up certain subjects. In all
respects this project was a huge success.
Strengthened Communication Skills
I believe I have strengthened the three areas of communication that I have worked on.
However I think that I need to work on “I” messages more. Me and my mom both need to work
on “I” messages because they do not come very easily. I have improved greatly on my timing
and reflective/ active listening. The most helpful thing about this assignment was the fact that
once I thought about what I needed to work on I could stop myself when I started my bad
communication techniques.
FCCLA Purpose
Strengthening the family bond as a functional unit in society. I wanted this to be my
FCCLA purpose because I wanted to strengthen my bond with my mother.
Citations
FHS 2400 Class Notes
COMM 1010 Class Notes