HANDOUTS IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 3

PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND

St. Anthony’s College

San Jose, Antique
HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

NAME: DATE:
TEACHER: SECTION:

BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

There are many reasons why interpersonal communications may fail. In many
communications, the message (what is said) may not be received exactly the way the sender
intended. It is, therefore, important that the communicator seeks feedback to check that their
message is clearly understood.

• Filtering- is the deliberate manipulation of information to make it appear more

favourable to the receiver.

• Emotions- how a receiver feels when a message is received influences how he or she
interprets it.

• Information overload- is when information exceeds our processing capacity.

• Defensiveness- are reactions that hinder effective communication and reduce their ability
to achieve mutual understanding.

• Language- words mean different meaning to different people.

• National culture- illustrates how communication differences can arise from national
culture as well as different languages.
 OVERCOMING BARRIERS

• Use feedback- a manager can ask questions about a message to determine whether it was
received and understood or intended.

• Simplify language- because language can be a barrier, managers should consider the
audience to whom message is directed and tailor language to them.

• Listen actively- the goal is to improve one’s ability to get full meaning of a
communication without distorting it by premature judgments or interpretations.

• Constraint emotions- it would be naïve to assume that managers always communicate in

a rational manner. We know that emotions can cloud and distort emotions.

• Watch nonverbal cues- an effective communicator watches his or her nonverbal cues to
ensure that they convey the desired message.