there is no perfect communication sometimes the problem lies in the talking itself somehow we end up being unclear and our words attitude or even the way of talking becomes a barrier in communication in this lesson we will distinguish among the different types of communication barriers i am ma'am honey and welcome to this another learning session in oral communication in context barriers to communication communication barriers can include anything that prevents or disables communicators to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time or a receiver to get the right message at the right time they come in many shapes and sizes ranging from poor speaking and writing skills language problems an office layout that discourages conversation psychological problems and to co-workers and friends personal grudges communicating can be more of a challenge than you think when you realize the many things that can stand in the way of effective communication the following are factors that may affect the effective flow of communication we have environmental technological organizational jargons external noise emotions distance hail effect misinterpretation fear stress status chain of command and trust issues communication is fruitful if and only if the message is sent by the sender is interpreted with the same meaning by the receiver if any kind of disturbance blocks any step of communication the message will be destroyed the five major classification of barriers to communication are the physical barriers semantic and language barriers social psychological barriers cross-cultural barriers and organizational barriers all of this may occur at any stage in the communication process physical barriers a physical barrier can be natural or human made common examples of these are faulty organizational structure noise time and distance and information overload people talking too loud noises from a construction site loud sound of karaoke and the blaring of jeepney horns can create noise and distortions telecommunication signal and connectivity problems are physical barriers a damaged phone will create noise or suppress volume and a broken fax machine can prevent a message from coming true all technical disturbances belong to physical barriers and they can happen most of the time semantic and language barriers these are also known as linguistic barriers language barriers usually occur when two people who speak different languages cannot understand one another and there is a breakdown in communication even when people involved in the communication use the same language regional differences in dialects vocabulary spellings and accent can lead to bewildering confusions language barriers are the most common communication barriers which cause misunderstandings and misinterpretations between people not using the words that the other person understands makes the communication ineffective and prevents message from being conveyed homophones homonyms and homographs are language stumbling blocks they can lead to confusion you might mean realize but the listener might interpret it as real eyes similarly ice cream and ice cream sound the same language barriers can also come from physical language disabilities which include stuttering articulation disorder and hearing loss social psychological barriers social and psychological factors are the most difficult barriers to communication attitudes and opinions emotions status difference inattention closed mind distrust and stereotyping fall under this type they usually arise due to limitations of the human body and mind emotions like fear anger worry and nervousness block the mind they can directly impact thinking and communication skills and can hamper how you relay your messages to others as well as interpret their messages to you differences in perception viewpoint stress and conflict trauma shyness and depression can interfere with communication for example a person takes females to be weak which is the person's perception he or she tells that to someone who does not think so this causes a misunderstanding between the two everything they communicate after that becomes unsuccessful since the view of the person is already set status consciousness is a very serious barrier low-profile people sometimes fail to communicate with persons of higher degree because either they are too conscious of their low status or too afraid of being snubbed off cross-cultural barriers every culture has a different set of values business ethics accepted behavior and decorum even different facial expressions and gestures failure to understand these differences and to show genuine respect for other cultural mores when communicating with people from other cultures can cause problems and misunderstanding not speaking the same language can cause a myriad of misunderstandings and is considered the most crucial barrier in cross-cultural communication verbal communication is important in every context but the meaning of words can literally get lost in translation if one person isn't aware of the exact meaning of a word it may be misunderstood or misinterpreted by the other person and can lead a conflict of ideas stereotypes are mostly negative images or preconceived notions about a specific community group or culture the most common basis for stereotyping are nationality gender race religion or age this creates prejudice among people of different cultures and causes judgmental attitudes towards one another non-verbal communication like signs and symbols differ in every culture and can therefore not be relied upon in communication the thumbs up sign may mean approval in other countries but to some it could be seen as a sign of insult organizational barriers organizational barriers hinder effective communication between the members of the organization problems with structures or systems in place such as inefficient information systems lack of supervision or training lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities and other deficiencies in organizational design make it unclear and confusing to know who to communicate with organizational facilities may mean the telephone stationery or translators which are provided to employees to facilitate communication with the absence of such facilities the communication may get adversely affected large work areas are working in an area that is physically separated from colleagues can also affect communication some messages are filtered or stopped altogether on the way up or down in the organizational hierarchy filtering may involve deleting or delaying negative information or using subtler words so that events sound more favorable large organizations have a number of layers of supervision and long communication lines this can cause distance between the workers and the top management resulting in communication barrier especially as the organization is divided into departments now that you're able to distinguish among the five major barriers to communication let us have a quick run-through activity to test your understanding of the discussion try to identify the type of barrier present in each of the following situations lack of confidence what is the type of barrier present [Music] lack of confidence often originates from the fear that we will make a fool of ourselves or cannot do something this is an example of a social psychological barrier poor lighting what is the type of barrier present poor lighting takes away visual signs of communication and body language that communicators would need it affects the sense of sight and this is an example of a physical barrier not talking to a superior what is the type of barrier present this is an example of an organizational barrier not talking or feeling hesitant about communicating with one superior regarding problems or issues within the company like asking clarification on work can result on organizations failure differences and customs what is the type of barrier present people's varied customs and traditions can lead to conflict and this is an example of a cross-cultural barrier connotative and annotative meaning what is the type of barrier present [Music] this annotated meaning is the dictionary meaning or direct meaning of a word whereas connotated meaning is the implied meaning disagreements on word meanings as they are unaware of other person's meaning is an example of a semantic or language barrier there are many barriers to communication and this may occur at any stage in the communication process effective communication involves overcoming these barriers and conveying a clear and concise message can you try sharing the strategies in ways that you know on how to overcome these communication barriers feel free to post your answers in the comments section of this video we have all experienced a communication meltdown there is no such thing as perfect communication and we have to take solace in that fact for some people it can take a lot more time and effort to recover from a breakdown in communication than it would to avoid one in the first place what's important is that we should try our best to overcome and prevent them from happening