BUSINESS AND

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND
INFORMATION GATHERING
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 2 (of 16)
Topics & Structure of Lesson
Communication Barriers
Introduction
Types of barriers
How barriers occur
Ways to improve communications
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 3 (of 16)
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, you should:
Identify arguments and justifying viewppoints
Make inquiries
Give information
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 4 (of 16)
Introduction
Communication is extremely complex.
Meaning in messages get lost due to noise,
interference or distortion.
Barriers exist despite good skills in organization,
delivery and grammar.

BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 5 (of 16)
Barriers
1. Psychological
Emotional - biases, preconceptions, closed-
mindedness, etc.
Perceptual - based on needs, motivations,
experience, background, etc.; filling in
information without checking for accuracy.
Selectivity - occurs due to time constraints,
context of information and flow of information
()
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 6 (of 16)
Barriers cont.
2. Semantic choice of words, different
meanings.
3. Physical physical appearance,
audience, context of document,
presentation, physical surroundings.
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 7 (of 16)
How Barriers Occur
Most communications are only partly
successful because some meaning is lost
while the message is being
developed,
transmitted,
received or
interpreted
between sender and receiver.
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 8 (of 16)
Problems Developing
Messages
Indecision about message content
Unfamiliarity with the situation or receiver
Emotional conflicts
Difficulty expressing ideas
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
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Problems Transmitting
Messages
Physical bad connections, poor acoustics,
illegible copy, etc.
Conflicting messages and meanings verbal vs.
nonverbal, etc.
Too many links message transferred from
person to person.
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 10 (of 16)
Problems Receiving Messages
Physical distracting signals and sounds,
bad lighting, etc.
Lack of attention by Receiver.

BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
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Problems Interpreting
Messages
Different Backgrounds age, education, gender,
social status, culture, temperament, health,
religion, popularity, economic position, political
beliefs, etc.
Different Emotional Reactions different
reactions to the same words on different
occasions depending on the emotional
relationship between Receiver and Sender.
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 12 (of 16)
Ways to Improve
Communications
Create the message carefully
think about your purpose and audience.
tell the audience what to expect.
use precise and specific language.
stick to the point.
connect new information to existing ideas.
emphasise and review key points.
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 13 (of 16)
Ways to Improve
Communications cont.
Minimise Noise
Try to eliminate potential sources of
interference.
Choose the medium that will most likely
attract the Receivers attention and maintain
his/her concentration.
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 14 (of 16)
Ways to Improve
Communications cont.
Facilitate feedback
Encourage feedback
Be receptive to responses received.
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
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The End


Questions?
BM004-1 Business & Communication Skills Effective Communication & Information Gathering
Slide 16 (of 16)
Next Lesson
Group Work
Introduction
Communication flow in groups
Leadership roles
Group decision making techniques