This is Food for Thought, Thoughts that fit where
you, by Neogentrics. Now, with the new semester
having started and we're now in the fall, we've
finally reached the month of September. Now,
a lot of things have been going on, a lot of
stuff is happening between strange weather phenomena,
different things happening in the government
and such. But, one thing that has yet to actually
improve is people's communications. now we finished
covering assertiveness and how to be assertive
in the right way and There's a lot of different
communication skills out there and things that
people should know but don't know and then there's
a lot of people who don't know how to communicate
properly or Use barriers to reflect their inability
to communicate so One of the things that I'm
going to definitely cover today which is basically
today's topic, is the barriers to effective communication.
I want to show you what it is that people do
in absence of being able to communicate as substitution,
okay? It's not exactly a bad thing, but it's
not exactly a good thing either, okay? There
are many reasons why interpersonal communication
fails. And like I said before, in many communications,
the message, basically what is being said, may
not even be received exactly the way the sender
intended. I mean, it is therefore important that
the communicator seeks feedback to check their
message is basically understood correctly. But
without the skills of active listening, clarification,
and reflection, which may help The skilled communicator
also needs to be aware of the barriers that affect
communication and how to avoid and overcome them.
This doesn't just go for the weak -minded people
who can barely speak. This applies to pretty
much everybody. There are many barriers to communication,
and these may occur at any stage in the communication
process. The barriers may lead to your message
becoming distorted. and you therefore risk wasting
both time and money by causing confusion and
misunderstanding unintentionally. Effective communication
involves overcoming these barriers and conveying
a clear, concise message. Now, let's talk about
some of the common barriers to effective communication.
First things first, the use of jargon, overcomplicated,
unfamiliar, and or technical terms. This is why
when I give a big word, I try my best to give
you the definition as well. To avoid confusion
and insincerity like people thinking that you're
making fun of them when you're talking to them
just because you use the word that they don't
know. Next would be the emotional barriers and
taboos. Some people... may find it difficult
to express their emotions, and some topics may
be completely off -limits or taboo. Taboo or
difficult topics may include, but not limited
to, politics, definitely religion, disabilities
such as mental and physical, sexuality, sex is
definitely one, I don't think it is anymore nowadays,
but it still is one, racism, and any opinion
that may basically seem as unpopular keeping
that in mind lack of attention and interest distractions
or irrelevance to the receiver can cause different
can cause issues with communication and with
being able to to be able to communicate properly
without these barriers there's also the flip
side to that of the barriers of being an effective
listener. Uh, you can communicate fine, but then
be a terrible listener. Okay. We'll take a short
break and we'll be right back. And we're back.
Now, we're going to continue with the rest of
these common barriers. And the next one would
be differences in perception and viewpoint. Okay?
Following that, like I mentioned earlier, physical
disabilities such as hearing problems or speech
difficulties, not being able to notice these
and do something about it to make it easier on
the receiver and yourself can cause problems.
Physical barriers to nonverbal communication
are not as common as they used to be, but they
are still very, very common. Like not being able
to see the nonverbal cues, gestures, postures,
general body language can make communication
less effective. Phone calls, text messages, and
other communication methods that rely on technology
are often less effective than face -to -face
communication. I'm going to be honest with you.
While I can't myself read a lot of nonverbal
cues, I would rather speak face -to -face than
over a text message or a phone call simply because
I can see the person's reaction to what I'm saying
and see if what I'm saying is actually irritating
them. Phone calls is okay. You can still hear
the inclination in their voice, whether good
or bad, but a physical conversation is actually
more effective. Language differences and the
difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents
can also cause problems as well, by the way.
So keep this in mind. With that being said, expectations
and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions
or stereotyping may lead to some issues. People
often hear what they expect to hear rather than
what they... what is actually said, and then
jump to the most incorrect or absurd conclusions.
And this happens a lot. One of the main issues
and common barriers of miscommunication would
be cultural differences. The norms of social
interaction vary greatly in different cultures,
as do the way in which emotions are expressed.
For example, the concept of personal space varies
between cultures and between social settings.
A skilled communicator must be aware of these
barriers and try to reduce their impact by continually
checking understanding and by offering appropriate
feedback. Next would be a categorization of barriers
to communication. First things first. Language
barriers. Language and linguistic abilities may
act as a barrier to communication. Even when
communicating in the same language, the terminology
used in a message may act as a barrier if it's
not fully understood by the receiver. For example,
a message that includes a lot of specialist jargon
and abbreviations will not be understood by a
receiver who is not familiar with that said terminology.
colloquisms and expressions things of that nature
they may be misinterpreted or even considered
offensive in in different languages just like
you may mean one thing and say it but then that
word has a completely different meaning in a
different region the next thing to keep in mind
are psychological barriers A psychological state
of communicators will influence how the message
is sent, received, and perceived. A good example
would be... Let me see here. If someone is stressed,
they may be preoccupied by personal concerns
and not as receptive to the message as if they
were, you know, not stressed. If you have a problem
with stress, check out my podcast on being stressed
and stress management. Because being stressed
all the time is not healthy. Another thing would
be anger. It's another example of a psychological
barrier to communication. When we are angry,
it is easy to say things that we may or may not
regret later. Also, to misinterpret what others
are saying as them saying something else. And
with that one, a more general one that people
have that can cause misunderstandings as far
as the barriers are concerned would be considered
lowest self -esteem a person with low self -esteem
may be less assertive and therefore may not feel
comfortable communicating they may feel shy or
embarrassed about saying how they really feel
or read unintended negative subtext and messages
that they hear instead of focusing on the positive
okay Another one to keep in mind would be physiological
barriers, okay? Physiological barriers to communication
may result from the receiver's physical state.
For example, a receiver with reduced hearing
may not fully grasp the content of a spoken conversation,
especially if there is a significant background
noise. You know, like people yelling. causing
an uproar or TV being on. Next would be physical
barriers. An example of a physical barrier to
communication is geographic distance between
the sender and the receiver. Communication is
generally easier over shorter distances, as more
communication channels are available and less
technology is required. The ideal conversation
and communication is still face -to -face even
today. Although modern technology often helps
to reduce the impact of physical barriers, the
advantages and disadvantages of each communication
channel should be understood so that an appropriate
channel can be used to overcome the physical
barriers. Actually, with that being said, that
brings me to the next one. Systematic barriers.
Systematic... Barriers to communication may exist
in structures and organizations where there are
inefficient or inappropriate information systems
and communication channels or where there is
a lack of understanding of the roles and responsibilities
for communication. In such an organization, people
may be even unclear of their roles in the communication
process and therefore not know what is expected
of them. This can cause problems within the workplace
and even confuse people who... do really well
at their job, but then nobody ever knows they
did it because, again, no one knows how to communicate
or who to talk to. And then last but not least,
attitudinal barriers. They are behaviors... Let
me rephrase that. They are behaviors or perceptions
that prevent people from communicating effectively.
Attitudinal barriers to communication may result
from personality conflicts, poor management,
resistance to change. That sounds like a lot
of barriers, actually. A lot of different regions
here in America. Or just a straight up lack of
motivation. To be an effective receiver of messages,
you should attempt to overcome your own attitudinal
barriers to help ensure more effective communication.
How do I put this? To improve your overall communication
skills, you need to be aware of and attempt to
minimize any barriers to communication that are
present. By developing your emotional intelligence
also, you will become more aware of how to communicate
with others in the most appropriate and effective
ways. Okay? There are many, many different ways
to do this. Like I mentioned before, there are
many ways to communicate. One of which is giving
and receiving feedback. Also being able to listen
to what is being told. Okay? Now, I've gone over
the barriers of communication. Next time, I'm
going to cover barriers to effective listening.
And then we're also going to cover giving and
receiving feedback. Since a lot of people don't
know how to give and receive feedback in the
proper way. Alright? Again, thank you guys for
listening. I know it's been a while since I've
given a podcast out. My name is Neogentrix. Again,
this is Food for Thought. Thoughts if it were
you. Feel free to subscribe to any one of the
stations on the anchor .fm Neogentrix website.
And hit me up if you have any questions, concerns,
or even topics that you would love me to cover.
And enjoy the rest of your day, okay?