and how these barriers can be overcome. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE BARRIERS Use of terminology that the receiver/audience may not understand e.g. a Doctor would have to simplify the terminology they use so their patients can understand them. Speaking to someone whose native language isn’t the same as yours. This can be overcome by not using slang and trying to speak as clearly as possible. People’s accents. This can be overcome by not using slang, as it could be considered offensive, and speaking as clearly as possible.

DISTRACTIONS Moves the attention of the audience away from your message. Can be overcome by removing possible distractions, for example shutting the door when in a meeting to reduce background noise. Another example is removing games from a website so that people can use the website without being distracted.

BACKGROUND NOISE Can reduce people’s concentration levels therefore reducing their ability to understand your message. Can be overcome by trying to eliminate all background noise e.g. moving to a more quiet place when trying to talk to someone in a loud environment.

LACK OF CONCENTRATION Will reduce people’s ability to understand your message and take in information. Can be overcome by elimination background noise and possible distractions such as turning the TV off when working at home. Can also be overcome by trying to make your presentation more interesting to keep your audience engaged, for example using charts/graphs instead of constant blocks of text.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES There are many cultures and each culture is different. A word/phrase in one culture may be acceptable but it could be considered offensive in another culture. Different cultures speak different languages so you will need to adapt your language to make it easier for your audience to understand you.

PHYSICAL DISABILITIES For example, problems with hearing/speaking/seeing. You will need to adapt your message for your audience, for example: speaking with a microphone if there are people in the audience who have hearing problems. Hiring someone to sign your message to the audience using sign language if they are deaf.

PHYSICAL BARRIERS Geographic distance – speaking to someone in another country can be difficult/less effective than speaking to them face-to-face. This can be overcome using technology such as Skype which enables you to speak to them and see them, no matter how far they are away from you.

SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE Can be a barrier if: The speaker isn’t very knowledgeable on the subject they are talking about. The audience doesn’t understand what the speaker is talking about. Can be overcome by Making sure the speaker has researched the subject they will be talking about. Making sure the speaker adapts their language so that the audience will be able to understand them