Reduce The Impact of Barriers To Communication (M1)

Introduction

Barriers to communication can be overcome. Barriers can be seen as a problem however this problem can be easily solved with different techniques.

Reducing Barriers

General Communication Barriers

Knowing the audience.

Research who the audience is before the presentation takes place. Ensure you are clear of what age they are and their ability is.

Make sure that anybody who may suffer from a disability has full and easy access to the presentation and the room and the presentation is suited to their disability. E.g a person with a visual impairment should be seated at the front of the room.

Use clear language

Make sure that the language used is understandable to their ability.

Do not use acronyms unless full word is presented with the acronym. Some people may not understand what the acronym means.

Preparation

Research into when and where the presentation is taking place to avoid a run in with something.

There are more ways of reducing the barriers of communication whilst in the presentation by doing small things that will make a difference.

Interpersonal Communication Barriers.

Interpersonal communication barriers come up people face barriers when speaking face to face to someone. 

Reducing lack of concentration and boredom barriers.

Boredom is a typical example of a barrier that can happen very easily. When people are bored in a presentation they are less likely to listen. A way of making sure that the audience stays alert is to engage with them. Engage in different ways such as;

·         Engage with the use of questions, open, closed and probing questions should be used here as it will make the audience more alert if they are answering questions.

·         Let the audience participate, this can be done with questions or having a quiz at the end of the presentation. 

·         Group discussion will keep the audience guessing and listening.

·         Restrict the use of internet, computers and mobile phones whilst the presentation is taking place – as this can often be a distraction.

·         Use a different format of presenting the message then normally. Use YouTube videos, slideshows and an interactive white board to keep the audience interested and reduce boredom of just talking all the time.

·         Use different tones and pitch in your voice so the audience can sense the change in your voice and stay interested.

Reducing body language barriers

·         Adjusting the body language can reduce the impact of a barrier. The audience will understand a lot better by watching the presenter’s body language.

·          A presenter’s body language is more important then people think it is. Examples of reducing the barrier with good body language are;

·         Be aware of your own body language. Make sure that you use gestures, hand movements and face the audience when talking to keep the audience interested and engaged.

·         A presenter should be aware of others body language, even their audience. The presenter should know if a person does not understand or if they are not listening and are distracted – this could include looking away or looking confused.

·         Good body language with a person is open and confident. A teacher would not talk to a class with their arms crossed. They would use their hands to demonstrate to help understand better.

Reducing noise barriers

·         There can be noise where the presentation is taking place. This can be a barrier that can become very stressful for both the presenter and the audience. Examples on how to reduce would be;

·         Close windows if there is noise coming from outside. If this does not help think about relocating to another less noisy room.

·         If noise is coming from outside office, close the door.

·         Use of partitions in office to discourage people from talking with the person sitting next to them and causing noise and distraction.

·         Hold meeting at a convenient time if possible to prevent such barriers.

Written communication barriers:

Reducing the barriers in written communication. There are many ways in which this can be reduced such as:

·         Proof reading the work before it is sent on to the next person – this will help to pick up errors that may not be obvious to the writer.

·         When writing documents, emails, texts and reports make sure to take your time and spend extra time making sure it is right.

·         Get others to check that they understand it before giving it to the intended person.  This is checking that the intended mean is clear to the reader.

·         Use heading and subheadings to indicate what the paragraph is about.  This will help to keep the reader interested and let them know what the document is about

·         Use of bullet points and numbering can be used to summarise information or for lists of things.  It is quicker to read than lots of paragraphs and can get the point across much quicker.  It will help to keep the readers attention.

·         Written documents should be well presented with consistent fonts and sizes so that it looks professional to the reader.

·         The document should follow a logical order so that the reader can follow the document and get the intended message.

·         The use of formatting tools such as bold, italic and underline can be used to highlight key words or phrases and let the reader know that they are important and should be focused on.

·         The use of templates could be used to allow employees to follow a set structure for writing emails and letters on behalf of an organization.