Observation Assignment On Tuesday September 2nd I had observed a conversation between Alyssa Grecco and Reese Hamilton. While listening in on their conversation I focused on two specific competences from the model we studied in class. I paid close attention to their use of Interpretive Competence and Message competence. I found that both were used successfully and helped them have an effective conversation. The first communication competence that I noticed was used well was the interpretive competence. According to Trenholm and Jensen (2011), “Interpretive competence is the ability to label, organize, and interpret the conditions surrounding an interaction” (p. 11). Being thrown into a conversation about just anything for ten minutes with someone you barely know is difficult, but Reese and Alyssa quickly adapted. They knew what conversation was appropriate for the time and place, and in return communicated effectively with one another. They made fitting selections when discussing how hot the weather was outside, and what other classes they are taking this fall. This was competent instead of incompetent, because we were outside at the time, and they both are full time students this fall. They also realized that they both have similar understanding of the surroundings around them. Understanding not only surroundings but also the messages that are being transferred leads into my next communication competence, which is Message Competence. Message Competence is basically the power to encode and decode messages with one another. Alyssa and Reese were very successful in being able to create and understand each other’s messages. Not only did they verbally communicate messages, they successfully used nonverbal competence. Trenholm and Jensen (2011) define nonverbal competence as, “The ability to process and use nonverbal codes to convey content in effective ways” (p. 11). Reese used sarcasm as a part of their conversation at one point, and Alyssa picked up on it and understood what Reese meant by his message. She knew not to take what he was saying literally, because of the tone of his voice when he verbalized his message. They also used eye contact appropriately throughout their conversation. This is an important nonverbal gesture because avoiding eye contact can make your message hard to decode and unclear to someone else, also it might show that you are not actually listening to the other person. Lacking eye contact would make for an incompetent conversation. Overall they used all the factors when creating and understand messages successfully. In conclusion, I found that Alyssa and Reese used these basic competences, and in result had a successful conversation for 10 minutes. Focusing on different types of competences and breaking them down I really acknowledged how a basic, daily conversation is made up of so many different elements.

Trenholm, S., & Jensen, A. (2011). Interpersonal Communication (7th ed.). Oxford University Press.