reduce impact of barriers to communication

TASK 3b – Reduce the impact of communication barriers

 

1. 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.

1. 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 take part, this can be done with questions or having a quiz
• Something which will keep the audience guessing and listening is group discussion
• Restrict the use of technology such as the internet, computers and mobile phones when your  presentation is taking place – as this could be a distraction.
• Use a different format of presenting the  essage 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.

1. Written Communication Skills 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.

 

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