PHYSICAL BARRIERS

These barriers usually relate to environmental factors that affect communication. In relation to the sender
or the receiver of the communication, these barriers are neutral. They are not originated by the sender or
the receiver.
Common examples include:
1. Noise may make hearing difficult.
2. Listener hearing loss.
3. The temperature is uncomfortably cold or hot.
4. The communication may be taking place where there is danger.
5. Distracting activities may be going on nearby.
Physical or environmental barriers most often begin at the start of the communication exchange. They are
usually fairly obvious and because they are neutral, there is not risk to anyone’s ego for either the sender
or receiver to mention physical barriers when they exist. It usually is a very simple matter to overcome
them once they are acknowledged.
Even though physical barriers are neutral, and even though listeners commonly initiate action to
overcome them, it is the sender’s responsibility to achieve understanding. It is, therefore, the sender’s
responsibility to initiate action to overcome physical barriers to achieve commitment from the listener to
respond as expected.
Barriers that stop you from communicating with people around you
Here is a list of barriers to communication, or reasons why we sometimes find it difficult to take the risk
and communicate our true attitudes and feelings to one another. Tick the ones you see as relevant in your
relationship.

•  Fear of appearing low in the listener’s eyes.
•  Fear of exposing your feelings and weaknesses.
•  Fear of hurting others or getting hurt.
•  Fear of being rejected, blamed, or condemned.
•  Fear of not receiving a positive response.
•  Fear of a potential conflict.
•  Fear of risking self-disclosure.
•  Fear of appearing self-centre.
•  Fear of appearing stupid.
•  Fear of not being taken seriously.
•  Fear of not getting the help you think you need.
•  Fear of ruining a good situation.

SENDER-MESSAGE BARRIERS

These barriers generally relate to style and content of communication, both of which originate with the
sender.
Examples of sender barriers include:
1. Sender has not decided or specified precisely what listener response is expected.
2. Sender incorrectly assumes the listener has adequate knowledge to understand the message.
3. Sender uses words and examples unfamiliar to the listener.
4. Sender continues talking when the listener’s attention has been distracted (i.e. noise,
uncomfortably cold or hot, other people, dangerous objects, etc.).
5. The sender may say the message in a way that turns of the listener or may even antagonize the
listener to cause a totally different message to come through than the one intended.
6. The 500 most commonly used words in the English language have 14,070 dictionary meanings.
They mean different things to different people.
7. More words are used than are necessary to convey the message, which forces the listener to make
conclusions about which words carry the real meaning of the message.
8. More than one issue is included in a single message, which confuses the listener.
9. Illustrations or examples used may not be appropriate to get the point across to the listener.
10. The sender may intentionally beat around the bush and never get to the point of the
communication.
Sender-message barriers start to develop before there is any attempt to exchange understanding with
anyone else. They continue throughout the exchange whether the exchange is written, spoken, or a
combination of both.
The title Sender-Message fixes ownership and responsibility for this barrier with the sender. Oftentimes,
there is a reluctance to deal with (overcome) this kind of barrier for the following reasons:
- Sender may not be aware of the barrier’s existence.
- Sender, in a supervisory position, may feel that the receiver is responsible for understanding.
- Senders may be aware of their existence, but not know what to do about it.
- Senders may be aware of their existence, but feel that the urgency is too great to spend sufficient time to
overcome it.
- Receivers may not be aware of their existence.
- Receiver may realize that a message is unclear or that the method or style of presentation is causing the
barrier, but hesitates to take a risk and mention it to the sender.It is the sender’s responsibility to achieve understanding and, therefore, the sender’s responsibility to take action to overcome sender-message barriers and achieve commitment from the listener to respond as expected. Sender-message barriers are by far the most common barriers and contribute to more communication failures than physical and listener barriers combined.