1. Physical Barriers ? Environmental Disturbances like traffic noise, loud sound, passing train etc. ?

Time and Distance ? Personal Problems of health ? Poor hearing ( due to defective hearing) ? Poor presentation due to speech defects like stammering, lisping etc. ? Poor verbal skills 2. Mechanical Barriers ? Noisy transmission (unreliable messages, inconsistency) ? The different media (machines or instruments) used for communication, very often becomes the barrier. Non-availability of proper machines or presence of defective machines. ? Wrong channels or medium 3. Mental Barriers From the senders point of view ? ignorance of the language and ? confused thinking are the mental barriers. From the receivers point of view ? ignorance of the language, ? limitations in ability, intelligence and understanding ? divided attention are the serious mental barriers. ? Semantic Problems occur when people use either the same word in different ways, or different words in the same way. The choice of words or language in which a sender encodes a message will influence the quality of communication. Because language is a symbolic representation of a phenomenon, room for interpretation and distortion of the meaning exists. Meaning has to be given to words and many factors affect how an individual will attribute meaning to particular words. It is important to note that no two people will attribute the exact same meaning to the same words. ? Misreading of body language, tone and other non-verbal forms of communication ? Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal cues . ? Voice control - Pitch, modulation of voice helps in making communication effective. ? Communicators thinking should be clear. 4. Cross Cultural Barriers Effective communication requires deciphering the basic values, motives, aspirations, and assumptions that operate across geographical lines. Given some dramatic differences across cultures in approaches to such areas as time, space, and privacy, the opportunities for mis-communication while we are in cross-cultural situations are plentiful. ? Values, Attitudes and Opinions Pre-conceived notions : We judge people before they speak by allowing our opinions and ideas of them come in the way of trying to know what the speaker is saying. Assumptions i.e. assuming others see situation same as you, has same feelings as you Status effects : power struggles

 Defensiveness, distorted perceptions, guilt, projection, transference, distortions from the past, negative emotions Distrusted source, erroneous translation, value judgment, state of mind of two people. Perceptual Biases: People attend to stimuli in the environment in very different ways. We each have shortcuts that we use to organize data. Invariably, these shortcuts introduce some biases into communication. Some of these shortcuts include stereotyping, projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotyping is one of the most common. This is when we assume that the other person has certain characteristics based on the group to which they belong without validating that they in fact have these characteristics. Interpersonal Relationships: How we perceive communication is affected by the past experience with the individual. Perception is also affected by the organizational relationship two people have. For example, communication from a superior may be perceived differently than that from a subordinate or peer Overcoming barriers to communication ? If communication is oral, it must be clear and not heavily accented. ? Words must be chosen in such a way that miscommunication is avoided. ? People should be oriented to listen with attention and read with concentration. ? If instruments are used they should be in proper working condition. ? The communicator should try to reach the audience by speaking and writing from their point of view. The you attitude must be used on all occasions. Semantic noises must be avoided. ? All communication should try to persuade and not rush or overwhelm people. Psychological barriers can be effectively overcome through persuasion. ? Proper arrangement must be made to obtain feedback. The sooner you obtain feedback the sooner will you be able to change your mode and manner of communication and make it more effective.