Barriers to Communicate

Barriers to communicate – P3

Definition

Barrier to communication – This is a barrier between people which stops them from communicating and understanding one another.

General Communication Skills

Tone of voice: The tone of a person when they are talking is very important as this will then show how people can communicate with one another. If a person talks loudly to somebody who is not used to this type of tone then they could feel annoyed about how the person has communicated to them. When listening to a person’s tone of voice then you will be able to see how they feel. E.g. talk quietly when they are tired, shout when they are angry etc.

Disabilities: When you are communicating to a person who has a disability it can be a lot harder to talk to them than it would with a person who has not got a disability. For someone who has seeing problems then it will be hard to describe what something looks likes. This will limit what they are able to see as they will need to find alternative ways in order to know about something. With somebody who has hearing problems it can be difficult to talk to talk to them as they may need you to repeat yourself, or even get you to shout out about what you had said.

Language: When two people are communicating it is important that suitable language is used between one another. If two people are from a different country then they will not be able to communicate with each other unless they learn each others language this can cause a problem as they will not be able to speak fluently to one another. Another language barrier could be someone using slang words, this can be difficult for someone to understand what the person is saying as they may not know what the slang means.

Interpersonal Skills

Body Language: If a person is talking to someone their body language can be vital when talking to one another as the person who is listening could give positive or negative body language to the person who is talking. E.g. not looking at the person, crossing arms, ignoring them, nodding their head in agreement; clap their hands, thumbs up etc. This will then change the emotion of the person who is talking as they will then know what the outcome of the communication between one another will be.

Background Noise: When people are communicating to one another it can sometimes be hard for them to understand about what each other is saying when there is people talking or shouting in the background. This will increase the difficultly to hear each other when they are talking as there are so many people talking, this could then lead to information being misunderstood which could end up with information being incorrect.

Low self-esteem:  This can have a big problem when people are communicating as somebody may not have the courage to speak up and give an answer or give a question. The person could also not feel confident in their answer so they would agree with somebody else’s answer instead of their own. This could tend with the person looking help all of the time in order to communicate effectively. This could then lead to people thinking that you don’t work hard and that you are lazy.

Written Communication

Using an inappropriate structure: When someone is trying to communicate by writing they will need to make sure that the format of their text is used appropriately. E.g. Paragraphs, Full stops, commas. If this is not used appropriately then the reader could end up feeling bored about what they are reading as the text has not been split up. If there piece of writing is a story or an article then they reader could end up losing track of where bouts they where. This will decrease the effective communication as they will not be to communicate effectively.

Language used: There are many types of languages that can be used when there is written communication, they can be use to grab the reader’s attention by using facts and figures or by using explanation marks. This will describe how the reader has showcased their writing; this will allow the reader to know how it describes that information tat has been given. E.g. Explanation marks, question marks. In the presentation the writer can make the reader feel interested about the topic being presented. This will make the reader want to learn about this topic more

Spelling and Grammar: In a piece of written text the written communication will need to be clearly laid out. If there are any spelling and grammar mistakes then the reader may not be able to finish the sentence correctly. E.g. if there is a step by step instruction which is incorrect then the product will not be able to be set up correctly. If there is too many spelling and grammar mistakes then the piece of text may be unreadable, this will then cause confusion when reading it.