COMMUNICATION

SKILLS

• By: KULWINDERJEET
SINGH
• ROLL NO: 340
 Communication can be
defined as:
– A process of sharing facts, ideas, opinions,
thoughts and information
– through speech, writing, gestures or
symbols
– between two or more persons
 Communication process
MESSAGE

SENDER RECEIVER

FEEDBACK

• Sender- the person who sends the message. Also known

as the source.
• Receiver- the person who receives the message.
• Message – subject matter of communication. It may
contain facts, ideas, feelings or thoughts.
• Feedback- receiver’s response or reaction or reply to
the message, which is directly towards the sender.
 Means of communication:
• For sending the message to the receiver or getting the
feedback from the receiver, we need a medium, which is called
as a medium or means of communication.
• It carries the message to the receiver and brings the feedback
from the receiver.
• It also depends on the purpose of communication.
• Examples:
- Letters
- Telegram
- Phones
- E-mail
- Fax
- Tele-conference
- Voice mail
Types of communication:

Types of Communication

Verbal Non-Verbal

Oral Written Visual Aural Gestural

 Verbal Communication
• Verbal communication is made through words,
either spoken or written.

• Communication through spoken words is known as

oral communication, which may be in the form of
lectures, meetings, group discussions,
conferences, telephonic conversations, radio
messages etc.

• In written communication, message is transmitted

through written words in the form of letters,
memos, circulars, notices, reports, manuals,
magazines, handbooks, etc.
 Non-verbal Communication
• Non-verbal communication may be Visual, Aural or Gestural.
• Sometimes you look into some pictures, graphs, symbols,
diagrams etc. and some message is conveyed to you. All
these are different forms of visual communication. For
example, the traffic policeman showing the stop sign, a
teacher showing a chart of different animals, etc.
• Bells, whistles, buzzers, horns etc. are also the instruments
through which we can communicate our message.
Communication with the help of these types of sounds is
called “aural” communication. For example, the bell used in
schools, siren used in factories, etc.
• Communication through the use of various parts of the
human body, or through body language is termed as
gestural communication. Examples : saluting our
national flag, motionless position during the singing of
national anthem, waving of hands, nodding of head,
showing anger on face, etc.
 Communication Barriers
• It is important to recognize the most common
communication barriers and understand their
negative impact on communication.

• Frequently, others are not influenced the way we

want because we have failed to recognize and deal
with communication barriers.

• In order to overcome these barriers, we must

recognize their characteristics and their effects.
Communication Barriers
 Relative strength of
communication barriers:
• The three kinds of communications barriers are Sender-
message, physical and listener-receiver.
• When effective exchange of understanding is not taking
place, one or more of these barriers is getting in the way.
• When a barrier is present in a communication exchange,
communication will suffer to some degree.
• The figure at the right illustrates the strength of the
three barriers in relationship to our attempt to identify and
reduce them.
• The figure illustrates that physical barriers are the easiest
to identify and reduce or eliminate while the listener
barriers are most often the hardest to identify and reduce
or eliminate.
• Acceptance of the responsibility of communication breakdown
is quite a different matter. It is difficult to get anyone to
admit that they might be the cause of ineffective
communication.

• A sender feels that most communication problems are the fault

of the listener or receiver. These people are not anxious to
confess that they might be the cause of communication
barriers.

• The same is true with the listeners. A listener feels that most
communication problems are a result of sender or message
caused communication barriers. They show little interest in
accepting responsibility for poor or inadequate communication.
 Listener Barriers
• These barriers relate to the listeners mind set. Typical mind sets of
listeners include not paying attention or daydreaming. The listener
generally exhibits resistance toward the sender and/or the message.
• Examples of listener barriers include:
1. Listener jumps to conclusions.
2. Listeners tend to see and hear what they want to see and
hear. This usually means they listen to that which seems to agree with
their own preconceived ideas.
3. Listeners tend to reject any message that contradicts their beliefs
and assumptions.
4. Listeners may have emotional problems that cause their minds to be
preoccupied.
5. Listeners do not ask questions to clarify when they do not understand a
point. They tend to fill in with their own ideas.
6. Listeners may nod their heads in agreement when they actually do not
agree or are not sure that they agree.
• However, it also may due to these reasons:
- Sender may not discover listener resistance.
- Sender may be aware of listener resistance, but not
know what to do about it.
- Sender may dislike or be disliked by the receiver.
- Sender may be aware of their resistance and not
want to do anything about it.
- Listener feels resistance and does not understand
why.
 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.
• 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.
 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.
THE END