Reflect and write about the ideas in this chapter by considering questions about personal, workplace, and ethical applications, here or online.

Personal Application List the six needs that interpersonal communication helps us meet. By each need, list one example of communication you have engaged in to meet that need. Compare your answers to those of your classmates.

Workplace Application Interview a professional in the field you plan to enter. Ask him or her to explain the communication skills needed for success and advancement in the field.

Which skills do you already have? Which ones do you need to develop or improve?

Write out a personal action plan for using this book and the course it accompanies to enhance your effectiveness in interpersonal communication.

Ethical Application Consider the ethical implications of the interactive and the transactional models of interpersonal communication. How do our ethical responsibilities to others differ when we conceive of communication as interactive versus transactional?