Paper – I

BASICS OF COMMUNICATION AND STUDY OF LANGUAGE

No of Instructional Hours: 5 per week

AIMS

1. To provide the students with an ability to build and enrich their communication skills

2. To make them familiar with different types of communication and to understand the barriers to
effective

communication

3. To engage students in meaning full communication through effective tasks

4. To familiarise students with the origin, development and evolution of language and to help
students to have a

good theoretical understanding of various aspects of human language and to enable students to
understand

language as a tool for discourse and as a cultural medium.

OBJECTIVES

On completion of the course, the students should be able to

1. identify the basic principles of communication and to analyse various types of communication

2. to look at language analytically from pedagogical, linguistic and literary perspectives

3. to identify the discourse and cultural significance of language.

4. to identify the prominent methods and models of communication

COURSE OUTLINE

Module 1:

 Communication-Definition-Meaning-Elements-Basics of communication-the seven C’s of

communicationCompleteness, Conciseness, Consideration, Concreteness, Clarity, Courtesy and
Correctness

 Barriers to communication-sender-centric; receiver centric and organizational-socio-cultural-

information

overload- overcoming communication barriers.

Module 2:

 Characteristics of human language- various theories about the origin of language- Diachronic and
synchronic

study of language, the rise of standard English-Contribution of major writers to the English Language-
Chaucer,

Spencer, Shakespeare, Milton- the impact of ththe Bible translations on the English Language.
Module 3

 Word formation and growth of vocabulary; Semantics-changes of meaning-widening, restriction,

amelioration,

divergence of meaning.

Module 4:

 The evolution of English as a global Language. Some present day trends in the English
language-slang-jargonregister, varieties of dialects-various ‘Englishes’.

COURSE MATERIAL

Module 1:

1. Frisk. J. Introduction to communicative Studies, 1990. London. Routledge.

2. Aggrval, Shalini. Essential communication Skills. 2009. New Delhi: Anne Books.

3. Marsen, Sky. Communication Studies. 2009. New York, Palgrave.

4. Knapp. M. Essentials of Non-Verbal Communication Theory. Rea. 1995. Orlando.

Module 2-4:

1. Lyons, John. Language and Linguistics: An Introduction. CUP, 1981.

2. Radhakumari, K. A Concise History of English Literature and Language. Primus Books. 2013.

3. [Link]. An Outline History of English Language. Trinity.

4. Yule, George. The Study of Language. CUP, 2006. Hudson. R.A. Sociolinguistics.

SEMESTER
PAPER I BASICS OF COMMUNICATION

MODULE 1

Communication
Communication is very important in our daily life. Communication (from Latin commūnicāre,
meaning "to share") is the activity of exchanging thoughts, ideas, feelings, emotions, facts,
messages, information and opinions of one person or a group to others through speech,
gestures, symbols, visuals, signals, writing or behaviour for the sake of personal interest or
business interest. It is the meaningful exchange of information between two or a group of
persons.

In other words, communication is “any act by which one person gives to or receives from
another person, information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or
 affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve
conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms, and may
occur through spoken or other modes.” According to McFarland, communication is, “a process
of meaningful interaction among human beings. More specifically, it is the process by which
meanings are perceived and understandings are reached among human beings.” Newman and
Summer defined communication as “an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two
or more persons.”

In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. In business, it is a key

function of management, as an organization cannot operate without communication between
levels, departments and employees. Communication requires a sender, a message, and a
recipient, although the receiver doesn't have to be present or aware of the sender's intent to
communicate at the time of communication. Communication can occur across vast distances
in time and space. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood
the message of the sender. Effective communication is when the message conveyed by the
sender is understood by the receiver in exactly the same way as it was intended.

Communication Process
1. Communication is a dynamic and a cyclic process that begins with the conceptualizing
of ideas by the sender who then transmits the message through a channel to the
receiver, who in turn gives the feedback in the form of some message or signal within
the given time frame. Sender / Encoder - Sender / Encoder is a person who sends the
message. A sender makes use of symbols (words or graphic or visual aids) to convey
the message and produce the required response.
2. Message - Message is a key idea that the sender wants to communicate. It is a sign
that elicits the response of recipient. Communication process begins with deciding
about
the message to be conveyed. It must be ensured that the main objective of the
message is clear.
3. Encoding is the process of converting the data or a given sequence of characters,
symbols, alphabets etc., into a specified format, for the secured transmission of data.
4. Medium/ Channel of Communication – Medium/ Channel is a means used to
exchange / transmit the message. The sender must choose an appropriate medium
for transmitting the message else the message might not be conveyed to the desired
recipients. The choice of appropriate medium of communication is essential for
making the message effective and correctly interpreted by the recipient. This choice
of communication medium varies depending upon the features of communication.
For instance - Written medium is chosen when a message has to be conveyed to a
small group of people, while an oral medium is chosen when spontaneous feedback is
required from the recipient as misunderstandings are cleared then and there.

The main components/ elements of communication process are as

follows:
 5. Recipient / Decoder - Recipient / Decoder is a person for whom the message is
intended / aimed / targeted. The degree to which the decoder understands the
message is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of recipient, their
responsiveness to the message, and the reliance of encoder on decoder.

6. Decoding is the reverse process of encoding which is to extract the information from
the converted format.

7. Feedback - Feedback is the main component of communication process as it permits

the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message. It helps the sender in confirming
the correct interpretation of message by the decoder. Feedback may be verbal
(through words) or non-verbal (in form of smiles, sighs, etc.). It may take written form
also in form of memos, reports, etc.
8. Communication Noise- The Noise shows the barriers in communications. It is any
disturbance that reduces, obscures, or disrupts the clarity or the quality of the
message transmitted. In other words, noise is any interference that takes place
between the sender and the receiver. There are chances when the message sent by
the sender is not received by the recipient.
7 C’s of Communication

Cutlip in 1952 in his “Effective Public Relations”, used the much-quoted words 7C’s in an
explanation on the communication process. (Book Name: Effective Public Relations; Author:
Scott M. Cutlip And Allen H. Center And Glen M. Broom)

Definition: The 7 C’s of Communication is a checklist that helps to improve the professional
communication skills and increases the chance that the message will be understood in exactly
the same way as it was intended. To have effective communication, one should keep the
following 7 C’s of communication in mind:
1. Clarity: The message should be clear and easily understandable to the recipient. The
purpose of the communication should be clear to sender then only the receiver will be sure
about it. The message should emphasize on a single goal at a time and shall not cover several
ideas in a single sentence.
2. Correctness: The message should be correct, i.e. a correct language should be used, and the
sender must ensure that there are no grammatical and spelling mistakes. Also, the message
should be exact and well-timed. The correct messages have a greater impact on the receiver
and at the same time, the morale of the sender increases with the accurate message.
3. Completeness: The message should be complete, i.e. it must include all the relevant
information as required by the intended audience. The complete information gives answers to
all the questions of the receivers and helps in better decision-making by the recipient.
4. Concreteness: The communication should be concrete, which means that the message
should be clear and particularly such that no room for misinterpretation is left. All the facts
and figures should be clearly mentioned in a message so as to substantiate to whatever the
sender is saying.
5. Conciseness: The message should be ¹precise and to the point. The sender should avoid the
lengthy sentences and try to convey the subject matter in the least possible words. The short
and brief message is more comprehensive and helps in retaining the receiver’s attention.
6. Consideration: The sender must take into consideration the receiver’s opinions, knowledge,
mindset, background, etc. in order to have an effective communication. In order to
communicate, the sender must relate to the target recipient and be involved.
7. Courtesy: It implies that the sender must take into consideration both the feelings and
viewpoints of the receiver such that the message is positive and focused at the audience. The
message should not be biased and must include the terms that show respect for the recipient.

Importance of Communication

Communication is fundamental to the existence and survival of humans as well as to an

organization. Communication thus helps to understand people better removing
misunderstanding and creating clarity of thoughts and expression. It also educates people.
Communication brings people together, closer to each other. Communication is an important
management function closely associated with all other managerial functions. It bridges the
gap between individuals and groups through flow of information and understanding between
them. Information is the most vital aspect for communication. Communication enhances
global business environment. Effective communication is vital for efficient management and
to improve industrial relations. “Effective communication is a building block of successful
organizations”. In other words, communication acts as organizational blood. The following
points can illustrate the importance of communication:

1. Lifeblood of every organisation

An organisation cannot function without communication. If we could somehow
remove communication flow from an organization, we would not have an
organization. It is needed for: Exchanging information, exchanging options, making
plans and proposals, reaching agreement, executing decisions, sending and fulfilling
orders, conducting sales etc. When communication stops, organized activity ceases to
exist. So, Communication in an organization, is as vital as blood for life.

2. Base for Action

Communication acts as a base for any action. Starting of any activity begins with
communication which brings information necessary to begin with.
3. Planning Becomes Easy
Communication facilitates planning. Planning is made easy by communication. Any
type of information regarding the human resource requirement (details about the
human resource) of each department of an organisation can be collected through
communication and it helps in human resource planning. In the entire process,
communication plays a vital role, it also facilitates managerial planning of the
organisation.

4. Means of Coordination
Communication is an important tool for coordinating the efforts of various people at
work in the organisation.

5. Aids in Decision-Making
The information collected through communication aids in decision-making.
Communication facilitates access to the vital information required to take decisions.

6. Provides Effective Leadership

A communication skill bring manager near to his subordinates and exchange ideas
and submits appropriate proposals, knows their opinions, seeks advices and make
decisions. This enables a manager to win confidence of his subordinates through
constantly communicating with them and removing probable misunderstandings. In
this way he leads his people to accomplish the organisational goal.

7. Boosts Morale and Motivation

An effective communication system instils confidence among subordinates and
workers ensuring change in their attitude and behaviour. The main cause of conflict
and dissatisfaction is misunderstanding which can be removed through
communication skills. The removal of misunderstanding makes manager and his
subordinates understand each other and create good industrial relations. This boosts
up the morale of the people and motivates them to work harder.

8. Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for

decisionmaking process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of
actions.

9. Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e., a

wellinformed individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual.
Organizational magazines, journals, meetings and various other forms of oral and
written communication help in moulding employee’s attitudes.

10. Communication also helps in socializing. In today’s life the only presence of another
individual fosters communication. It is also said that one cannot survive without
communication.
11. As discussed earlier, communication also assists in controlling process. It helps
controlling organizational member’s behaviour in various ways. There are various
levels of hierarchy and certain principles and guidelines that employees must follow
in an organization. Controlling must comply with organizational policies, perform their
 job role efficiently and communicate any work problem and grievance to their
superiors.

Purpose of Communication:
1. Flow of information: The relevant information must flow continuously from top to bottom
and vice versa. The staff at all levels must be kept informed about the organisational
objectives and other developments taking place in the organisation. A care should be taken
that no one should be misinformed. The information should reach the incumbent in the
language he or she can understand better. The use of difficult words should be avoided. The
right information should reach the right person, at right time through the right person.

2. Coordination: It is through communication the efforts of all the staff working in the
organisation can be coordinated for the accomplishment of the organisational goals. The
coordination of all personnel’s and their efforts is the essence of management which can be
attained through effective communication.

3. Learning management skills: The communication facilitates flow of information, ideas,

beliefs, perception, advice, opinion, orders and instructions etc. both ways which enable the
managers and other supervisory staff to learn managerial skills through experience of others.

4. Preparing people to accept change: The proper and effective communication is an important
tool in the hands of management of any organisation to bring about overall change in the
organisational policies, procedures and work style and make the staff to accept and respond
positively.

5. Developing good human relations: Managers and workers and other staff exchange their
ideas, thoughts and perceptions with each other through communication. This helps them to
understand each other better. They realize the difficulties faced by their colleagues at the
workplace. This leads to promotion of good human relations in the organisation.

6. Ideas of subordinates encouraged: The communication facilitates inviting and encouraging

the ideas from subordinates on certain occasions on any task. This will develop creative
thinking. Honouring subordinates’ ideas will further motivate them for hard work and a sense
of belonging to the organisation will be developed. It will provide them with the
encouragement to share information with their superiors without hesitation.

Effective Communication
An Effective Communication is a communication between two or more persons wherein the
intended message is successfully delivered, received and understood.

In other words, the communication is said to be effective when all the parties (sender and
receiver) in the communication, assign similar meanings to the message and listen carefully to
what all have been said and make the sender feel, heard and understood. In the business
context, the communication is effective if the information shared among the company
employees contributes towards the organization’s commercial success.
 The effective communication includes not just the way you use the words but also covers
several other skills such as, non-verbal communication, ability to understand your own
emotions as well as of the other person with whom you are communicating, engaged
listening, ability to speak assertively, etc.

Barriers to Effective Communication

Any parameter that limits the purpose of communication or channel of communication
between the transmitter and the receiver is a barrier to communication. It is an interference /
hindrance in the path of communication process. A communication barrier may limit or
reduce the ease at which we communicate and hence the name barrier. The process of
communication has multiple barriers. The Barriers to effective communication could be of
many types like linguistic, psychological, emotional, physical, and cultural etc
Semantic Barriers
The Semantic Barriers refers to the misunderstanding between the sender and receiver
arising due to the different meanings of words, and other symbols used in the
communication. The semantic barriers usually arise when the information is not in the simple
language and contains those words or symbols that have multiple meanings. Following are
the main language barriers:

1. Bad Expression: If the message is not formulated properly and the language used is so
difficult then it could be misinterpreted by the recipient. The message is said to be badly
expressed if the wrong words are chosen, the sentences are not sequenced properly, and
there is a frequent repetition of words or sentences. The badly expressed messages consume
a lot of time as it requires corrections and clarifications and also the impact of the message
gets reduced.
2. Symbols, or Words with Different Meanings: There are several words that carry different
meanings and often, people get confused with these words and interpret these differently
 due to the difference in their educational and social backgrounds. Such as, the word “Crane”
has different meaning as shown in the sentences below:

▪ The bird sanctuary is full of cranes.

▪ The builder used a crane to lift heavy steel rods.

▪ The girl has to crane her neck to watch the movie.

3. Faulty Translation: Sometimes, the sender translates the message as per his level of
understanding irrespective of the recipient’s comprehension level. For example, a manager
collected information from his superiors and subordinates and translated the same
information to all his employees, according to the understanding level of the superiors, and
this will led to the misinterpretation of the message. Thus, it is required to mould the
message according to the understanding levels of the employees to have an intended
response.
4. Unclarified Assumptions: Sometimes the sender creates assumptions about certain things
which he feels the receiver must be knowing about it and focus only on the subject matter.
But

in the case of a special message, if the assumptions are vague and unknown to the receiver
then the communication might get adversely affected.
5. Denotations and Connotations: The denotation means the literal meaning of the word, it just
shows the name of the object and does not imply any negative or positive qualities. The
detonation barriers arise due to the sender and receiver using a different definition and
meaning of the word used in the message. Such as word crane is used in the context of bird
species but it is interpreted as a vehicle that lifts the objects.

Whereas the implied meaning of the word is called connotation that arouses personal
reactions and qualitative judgments. The connotation barriers arise when the people use
words that hold different meanings in different abstract situations, contexts, feelings, etc. For
example, the word beautiful and confidence has a positive connotation, but can have any of
the meaning depending on the context in which it is used.

6. Technical jargons: Often people working in the technical groups such as engineers,
production managers, IT managers, etc. use the technical jargons in their communication
which is quite difficult for the layman to understand. Thus, the use of technical jargons in
communication can act as a barrier.
 Thus, semantic barriers lead to misunderstanding of the information and the
objective of communication, i.e. for which it was intended, gets disrupted.

Organizational Barriers
The Organizational Barriers are the hindrances in the flow of information among the
employees that might result in a commercial failure of an organization. There are many
methods of communication at an organizational level. Each of these methods has its own
problems and constraints that may become barriers to effective communication. Most of
these barriers arise because of misinformation or lack of appropriate transparency available
to the employees. The major Organizational Barriers are listed below:

1. Organizational Rules and Policies: Often, organizations have the rule with respect to what
message, medium, and mode of communication should be selected. And due to the stringent
rules, the employees escape themselves from sending any message.

Similarly, the organizational policy defines the relationship between the employees and the
way they shall communicate with each other maintaining their levels of position in the
organization. Such as, if the company policy is that all the communication should be done in
writing, then even for a small message the medium used should be written. This leads to
delay in the transmission of the message and hence the decision making gets delayed.

[Link] or Hierarchical Positions in the Organization: In every organization, the employees

are divided into several categories on the basis of their levels of the organization. The people
occupying the upper echelons of the hierarchy are superior to the ones occupying the lower
levels, and thus, the communication among them would be formal. This formal
communication may often act as a barrier to the effective communication. Such as the lower
level employee might be reluctant in sending a message to his superior because of a fear in
his mind of sending the faulty or wrong message.

3. Organizational Facilities: The organizational facilities mean the telephone, stationery,

translator, etc., which is being provided to employees to facilitate the communication. When
these facilities are adequately offered to the employees, then the communication is said to be
 timely, accurate and according to the need. Whereas, in the absence of such facilities, the
communication may get adversely affected.
4. Complex Organizational Structure: The communication gets affected if there are a greater
number of management levels in the organization. With more levels, the communication gets
delayed and might change before reaching the intended receiver. Thus, communication is the
key factor in the success of any firm, and the communication is said to be effective when the
employees interact with each other in such a way that it results in the overall improvement of
the self as well as the organization.

Psychological Barriers

There are various mental and psychological issues that may be barriers to effective
communication. The Psychological or Emotional Barriers refers to the psychological state i.e.
Opinions, attitudes, status consciousness, emotions, etc. of a person that deeply affects the
ability to communicate. Some people have stage fear, speech disorders, phobia, depression
etc. All of these conditions are very difficult to manage sometimes and will most certainly
limit the ease of communication.

Emotional Barriers

The communication largely depends on the mental condition of a person, if the person is not
mentally or emotionally sound, then he cannot communicate effectively either as a sender or
a receiver. The emotional IQ of a person determines the ease and comfort with which they
can communicate. A person who is emotionally mature will be able to communicate
effectively. On the other hand, people who let their emotions take over will face certain
difficulties. A perfect mixture of emotions and facts is necessary for effective communication.
Emotions like anger, frustration, humour, can blur the decision-making capacities of a person
and thus limit the effectiveness of their communication.

The main kinds of Psychological or Emotional Barriers are:

1. Lack of Attention: When the person is pre-occupied by some other things and do not listen
carefully what the other person is speaking, then arises the psychological barrier in the
communication. When the person does not listen to others, then he won’t be able to
comprehend the message as it was intended and will not be able to give proper feedback.

2. Premature Evaluation: Many people have a tendency to jump to the conclusions directly and
form judgments without considering all the aspects of information. This is generally done by
the people who are impatient and resort to a selective listening. This premature evaluation of
the information acts as a barrier to the effective communication and lowers the morale of the
sender.
3. Poor Retention: The retention refers to the capacity of a brain to retain or store things in the
memory. The brain does not store all the information came across but in fact, retain only
those which deems to be helpful in the future. Therefore, much of the information gets lost
during the retention process, and this acts as a barrier to the effective communication.
4. Loss by Transmission: The loss by transmission means, whenever the information exchanges
by hand its credibility reduces. It is most often observed in the case of an oral communication
where people handle information carelessly and transmits the information which has lost
some of its truth. Thus, the improper and lack of information being transmitted to others acts
as a hindrance in the communication process.
5. Distrust: To have an effective communication, it is must that both the communicators (sender
and receiver) trust each other. In case there is a lack of trust between both the parties, then
they will tend to derive negative meaning out of the message and often ignore what has been
communicated. If the receiver has no trust, then he will not listen to whatever is being said by
the sender, and this will result in a meaningless communication.
6. Emotions: The communication is greatly influenced by the emotions of a person. If a person is
not in a good temperament, then he would not listen properly to whatever is said and might
say things offending the sender. Several other emotions such as anger, nervousness,
confusion, restlessness, etc. affects the communication process.

Thus, every human being has a unique mind which is composed of varied emotions, beliefs,
perceptions, opinions, and thoughts that facilitate different forms of communication.

Personal Barriers

The Personal Barriers relate to the factors that are personal to the sender and receiver and
act as a hindrance in the communication process. These factors include the life experiences,
emotions, attitudes, behaviour that hinders the ability of a person to communicate.
 The most common personal barriers are:

1. Lack of Listening Skills: The efficiency of communication process gets disturbed when the
receiver listens only with ears but do not apply his mind. Often, the receiver listens what he
wants to listen and give no attention to other aspects of the information, thereby acting as a
hindrance to the effective communication.
2. Selective Attention: This problem arises when the person is impatient and put his objective
above all. He gives ears to only that part of the information which is helpful for him and fulfils
his objective and ignores all the other aspects.
3. Lack of knowledge: Also, the communication process suffers if the sender and receiver have
less knowledge about the subject matter.
4. Lack of vocabulary: Often, the communication problem arises when the sender uses some
words which are difficult for the receiver to comprehend correctly.

In the organizational context, both the superiors and the

subordinates have their personal barriers that impede them to communicate

effectively. These barriers are:
 Barriers Related to the Superiors in the organization

1. Less faith in subordinates: Often, the superiors have a lack of confidence in the subordinates
and, therefore, doubt on their capacity to provide relevant information. They deliberately
ignore the suggestions and recommendations from the subordinates and discourages them to
further communicate. This lowers the morale of the employees and hinders the
communication process.
2. Fear of challenge of Authority: There is a fear in the minds of the superiors that if they will
not perform in line with their authority, they will be demoted to the lower levels. And, thus in
order to maintain their level they intentionally hide their weaknesses by not communicating
their ideas to others.

Barriers related to the subordinates in the organization

1. Lack of Incentives: Often, the subordinates give their suggestions and recommendations with
an objective to earn incentives. The incentives are given to the subordinates to motivate them
to give suggestions and to acknowledge their suggestions as important for the success of the
organization. If there is a lack of incentives, then the subordinate is not likely to communicate
and hence the communication process gets adversely affected.
2. Unwillingness to communicate with the Superiors: Often the subordinates do not
communicate with their superiors with an intention to conceal the information which is of a
negative nature and can have an adverse effect. If the subordinate is required to inform his
superior then, he modifies the information in such a way that it does not have a negative
impact. Thus, by not providing the information in its actual form, the communication process
is tempered.
Linguistic/ Language Barriers
The language barrier is one of the main barriers that limit effective communication. This can
seem like an easy one, but even people speaking the same language can have difficulty
understanding each other if they are from different generations or from different regions of
the same country. Slang, professional jargon and regional colloquialisms can even hurt
communicators with the best intentions.

As per some estimates, the dialects of every two regions changes within a few kilometers.
Even in the same workplace, different employees will have different linguistic skills. As a
result, the communication channels that span across the organization would be affected by
this.

Thus keeping this barrier in mind, different considerations have to be made for different
employees. Some of them are very proficient in a certain language and others will be ok with
these languages.

Physical / Environmental Barriers to Communication

They are the most obvious barriers to effective communication. These barriers are mostly
easily removable in principle at least. They include barriers like noise, closed doors, faulty
equipment used for communication, closed cabins, etc. Sometimes, in a large office, the
physical separation between various employees combined with faulty equipment may result
in severe barriers to effective communication. There are certain ways to overcome
environmental barriers:-

(a) Time – adopt appropriate time for communication

(b) Space – maintain the distance in the communication exercise as determined by the
situation

(c) Place – Avoid overcrowded incommodious and ill-lit, ill- ventilated places to achieve
effective communication

(d) Medium – Choose the appropriate medium oral / written (sign (audio/visual) medium.

Cultural Barriers of Communication

As the world is getting more and more globalized, any large office may have people from
several parts of the world. Different cultures have a different meaning for several basic values
of society. Dressing, Religions or lack of them, food, drinks, pets, and the general behaviour
will change drastically from one culture to another.

Hence it is a must that we must take these different cultures into account while
communication. This is what we call being culturally appropriate. In many multinational
companies, special courses are offered at the orientation stages that let people know about
other cultures and how to be courteous and tolerant of others.

Attitude Barriers
Certain people like to be left alone. They are the introverts or just people who are not very
social. Others like to be social or sometimes extra clingy! Both these cases could become a
barrier to communication. Some people have attitude issues, like huge ego and inconsiderate
behaviours. These employees can cause severe strains in the communication channels that
 they are present in. Certain personality traits like shyness, anger, social anxiety may be
removable through courses and proper training. However, problems like egocentric behaviour
and selfishness may not be correctable. Also being extremely nervous, having a personal
agenda or “needing to be right no matter what” can make communications less than
effective. This is also known as “Emotional Noise”.

Perception Barriers
Different people perceive the same things differently. This is a fact which we must consider
during the communication process. Knowledge of the perception levels of the audience is
crucial to effective communication. All the messages or communique must be easy and clear.
There shouldn’t be any room for a diversified interpretational set.

Physiological Barriers
This has to do with poor or outdated equipment used during communications, background
noise, poor lighting, temperatures that are too hot or too cold. Certain disorders or diseases
or other limitations could also prevent effective communication between the various
channels of an organization. The shrillness of voice, dyslexia, ill health, poor eyesight or
hearing difficulties, pain etc are some examples of physiological barriers to effective
communication.
However, these are not crucial because they can easily be compensated and removed.

Technological Barriers
. The technology is developing fast and as a result, it becomes difficult to keep up with the
newest developments. Hence sometimes the technological advance may become a barrier. In
addition to this, the cost of technology is sometimes very high. Most of the organizations will
not be able to afford a decent tech for the purpose of communication. Hence, this becomes a
very crucial barrier.

Socio-religious Barriers
In a patriarchal society, a woman or a transgender may face many difficulties and barriers
while communicating.

Some other barriers to communication

1. Problems with Structure Design: Companies or institutions can have organization structures
that are not clear, which can make communications difficult. Also to blame for faulty
communications are bad information systems, and lack of supervision or training of the
people involved.

2. Cultural Noise: people sometimes make stereotypical assumptions about others

based on their cultural background.

3. Lack of Common Experience: It’s a great idea to use examples or stories to explain a
point that is being discussed. However, if the speaker and the audience cannot relate to these
examples because they do not have the same knowledge or have not shared the same
experiences then this tool will be ineffective.
4. Ambiguity and Abstractions Overuse: Leaving things half-said, using too many
generalizations, proverbs or sayings, can all lead to communications that are not clear and
that can lend themselves to misinterpretations

5. Information Overload: Conveying too much information is a great setback to

communication why as firstly people might not be ready to grasp too much information.
Secondly the information might be coming too fast that interpreting it becomes difficult. It
takes time to process a lot of information and too many details can overwhelm and distract
the audience from the important topics. Keep it Simple, Sweetie.

6. Assumptions and Jumping to Conclusions: This can make someone reach a decision
about something before listening to all the facts.

[Link] of Communication skills: A receiver is least likely to get the meaning of the message if
the sender is not able to select the right words. Usage of the wrong and difficult words might
send the wrong impression in the eyes of the customers. For instance, if a salesman starts
talking about the technicalities of his product which a customer cannot understand they
would just whisk away. If a communicator cannot speak well, stammer while speaking or
cannot convey the barriers of communication meaning of what he intends to say properly and
authentically, all efforts gets wasted.

[Link] of the sufficient knowledge: If we start communicating about something without

knowledge of the subject the barriers of communication are bound to occur. In fact, there are
many salespeople who cannot explain many completed words or ideas in a simple way or
don’t have knowledge about it. Here any misinformation means losing potential clients. In the
organization lack of knowledge will bound to become a biggest stumbling block in your career
growth.

[Link] distractions/sloppy style: If you are communicating something in a noisy

environment, it can distraught your communicative thoughts. Trouble in your mobile lines or
a noise in surroundings like in restaurant can create barriers of communication. While writing
too if your email message or letter does not contain the proper words and are not properly
formatted, the receiver won’t be able to get the message clearly. All efforts of barriers of
communication process get dashed.

[Link] mode of communication: The Inappropriate way of communication simply

means your message is not being delivered how much you try. For instance, if the detailed
instruction is given on telephone it would be a sheer wastage for both the deliverer and a
receiver. Sending a message through a wrong way creates trouble for the listener as it would
be frustrating as well time-consuming.

[Link] Feedback: In fact even a lack of feedback can deter effective communication. In your
organization your supervisor is delivering instructions in long and complex sentences without
giving you a chance to speak, you might pretend to listen, but the same won’t give you result
as you are not able to understand instructions.
[Link] language: Usage of rude or slang language can impede all the efforts of
communication whether in written or verbal. No one can bear the rude or abusive language.

Overcoming communication barriers

Have clarity in your thoughts: You should be very clear about your objective and what you
want to convey. Arrange your thoughts in a proper order and then communicate accordingly.
Systematic communication and clarity in thought get adequately received and appreciated.
Aimless talks can be misleading so you should always try to show that there is an aim or
motive behind your talk.

Understand the needs of your audience: You should be emotional and sensitive towards the
needs of your receiver. Understand other’s behaviour, nature, culture, and religion, however,
it does not mean you cannot express your feelings or thought, but it simply means that you
are showing respect to his religious beliefs or thoughts and then stating your point of view.
Most importantly the message should also be structured as per the level or ability of
audience. If you are conveying the message to a layman then avoid using technical words and
if you are addressing corporate elite, the language should have professional sophistication
and maturity.

Seek the advice of others before Communicating: If you are going for a high prolific meeting,
seek the advice from your seniors and colleagues on the level and kind of talk that should be
given. The main advantage of this practice is simple, you can get many ideas which can build
your motivation and knowledge and you can then use the same to meet your purpose.

Take adequate care of your Tone, Language and way you are speaking: Messages should be
framed in a simple and polite tone which attracts the listeners. Care should be taken to keep
the sentences short and simple. Technical words should be used only where they are required
the most. The most important of all is that the interest of the receiver should be kept in mind
and the things that conveyed should attract the users else it might find the audience or
listening yawning while you are speaking.

Have a feedback from the receiver: Avoid asking listener, “Have you understood,” ask them
instead their views about what you have said and the aspects they had grasped from your
message. This is a most polite and best way to have your listener involve in a conversation.
This would help you to have a better understanding of their aptitude and the interest he or
she is showing towards the subject.

Retain consistency about the Message: The message conveyed should conjure with the
organizational goals and policies. Whenever you are replacing any old message instead of the
new one, you should clearly mention about it and clear all the doubts.

Keep a routine check on the communication system: You should analyze the weaknesses in
the communication system. All the efforts should be made to know whether you should focus
on the formal or informal way to communicate. The situation needs to be analyzed to decide
on the appropriate way of communication and whether audience loves to talk informally or in
a formal way.

Make use of the body language: During the process of communication make sure you make
the most appropriate use of your body language, avoid showing too much of emotions as the
receiver might misapprehend the message. Try to always keep a smiling face while talking and
make eye to eye contact with the listener but make sure not to keep your eyes gazed at one
person for more than five seconds and avoid too much of fluttering of eyes which indicate you
are not confident. Sit in an upright position and feel relaxed.

Avoid overloading too much of information: People would get bored if they are bombarded
with the unnecessary and too much of information. So try to deliver the parts which are
useful and informative and of value to the listener in a most simple and straight forward way.
There should not be any confusion left in the mind of the listener.

Reduce the level of noise as far as possible: Always make sure to speak and interact with
someone where there is no noise and least disturbance. Find the source of noise, remove it
and then start conversing.

Communication chain should be short: You should avoid using the mediocre or send the
message through the third person unless it is very urgent. Try to directly communicate with
the person concerned. The risk of distortion of the facts gets more if message is passed
through the third party and just imagine if there are more people in between the sender and
receiver the chances of filtering of the messages is doubled.

Keep your anger in control: Do not be aggressive or show your anger if you do not agree with
any point of view or anything that is going against your ideology. State your thoughts politely
with facts if you have and reflect positivity in your talk and nature.

Gate keeping

Kurt Lewin coins the word called “Gate keeping”. It’s nothing but to block unwanted or
useless things by using a gate. Here the person who make a decision is called “Gatekeeper”.
At first it is widely used in the field of psychology and later it occupies the field of
communication. Now it’s one of the essential theories in communication studies.

The Gatekeeper decides what information should move to group or individual and what
information should not. Here, the gatekeeper are the decision makers who letting the whole
social system. The gatekeeper is having its own influence like social, cultural, ethical and
political. Based on personal or social influences they let the information to the group.
Through this process the unwanted, sensible and controversial information’s are removed by
the gate keeper which helps to control the society or a group and letting them in a right path.
In home mother plays the vital role and she has to decide what their kid’s needs and what
should avoid.

Eg: In news medium editor play vital role. He has to decide what kind of news items will
publish and what should not. Every day the news channel receives various news items from
all over the world. The channel has its own ethics and policies through this the editor decide
the news items for publish or aired. In some cases, few news items are rejected by the editor
due the organizations policy or the news items which are not suitable for publish. For
example:

An international news channel receives numbers of news items within day like international
terror issues, UN discussions, Texas bull fighting and religious abuse on international
community.

A news channel can’t show all those news items to audience because it may affect the
channel reputation in public and organizations policy. Here, editor decides the news items
especially he can’t show the Texas bull fighting because it is not internationally popular story.
But the same time the news channel can’t show the religious abuses also because it may hurt
audience directly and it may affect organizations policy also. But international terror issues
and UN discussions are universal common news that won’t affect the channel reputation in
public and organizations policy.

SENDER-CENTRIC

Sender-centric Communication Barriers

Sender-centric barriers are the barriers that result from shortcomings at the sender’s end.

These may occur at any of the ‘pre-message delivery’ stages: ideation, preparation, or
presentation of the message in the communication process .

There are fourteen different types of sender-centric barriers:

1. Lack of interest

When the communicator (sender) is not interested in the subject-matter for which the
message is based, communication is bound to be ineffective.

For example, if a chartered accountant who specializes in finance makes a presentation on

marketing, the presentation is not likely to do justice to the topic.

2. Overconfidence or under-confidence

Sometimes the sender is either overconfident or under-confident about the subject-matter of

the message.

Both situations may be damaging to perfect communication, as an overconfident person may

take the message too casually while an under-confident person might be overawed and not
act properly.

3. Lack of preparation

Very often, the lack of preparation results in communication breakdown. To achieve perfect
communication, senders should:

• select the type of message,

• contemplate and decide on purpose of message,

• analyze the idea and how it can best be presented, and

• anticipate effect on receiver.

4. Over-qualification or under-qualification

It is important that the sender of the message is aptly qualified in the related field because
neither an overqualified nor an under-qualified person can successfully strike a chord with the
audience.
An overqualified person may tend to get carried away in the nitty-gritty of the subject matter,
while an under-qualified person may try to get away with superficial information.

For example, a professor with a PhD who teaches at the post-graduate level may not be
equally comfortable teaching the same topic to school-level students.

5. Time deficit

In our world today, time is always at a premium and if the message’s sender compromises by
not giving the required time for preparation or dissemination of the message, the receiver(s)
may face problems.

For example, a manager presiding over a staff meeting in a conference room hastily scribbles
the message, ‘Ask Mr Vineet to wait in my office’ (in illegible handwriting) on a piece of paper
and passes it on to his secretary, which is misread as, ‘Ask Mr Vineet to wake in my office’, no
sense can be made of it.

6. Lack of language competency or linguistic deficiency

Language plays an important role in any inter-personal communication where both the
sender and the receiver must be reasonably comfortable in the language used.

This is because in any communication process—oral or written, the sender(s) encodes(s)

ideas, which the receiver(s) decode(s) to understand and give feedback accordingly.

Any lapse on either side may lead to a communication failure.

There are some points that the sender needs to keep in mind. They include:

6.1. Grammar

The message, irrespective of the language, should be delivered using correct grammar with
reference to syntax , gender , time, and tense . For instance, a sender referring to a male
client as ‘she’ and vice versa might offend the client.

6.2. Etymology

It is important to choose the right and easily comprehensible word and not choose difficult
and too technical words as it is likely that the sender may attach different meanings to words
because words have both denotative and connotative meaning.

Assessing a receiver’s vocabulary level can help a sender to choose the words that are in sync
with the receiver’s comprehension ability.

If words are too difficult or too technical, the receiver may not understand them; at the same
time if the words are too simple, the receiver might get bored.

6.3. Syntactical

As we communicate our ideas not in words but in sentences, the message needs to be
constructed with the correct syntax.

For instance, a sender referring to consumer durable says, ‘we produce high quality home
appliances who can make your day-to-day chores enjoyable’.
This might amuse their audience who might wonder ‘whether home appliances are living or
non-living’ and ‘whether chores can be enjoyable’.

6.4. Non-verbal

Apart from the grammatical and syntactical aspects of verbal communication, the sender
should also make sure that non-verbal communication , including the body language , is
concordant with the verbal message.

For instance, a subordinate trying to calm down his angry boss says, ‘I have deep regard for
you, sir. I genuinely apologize for the late submission of my sales report’, with chewing gum in
his mouth and both his hands in the pockets of his trousers.

Here, the boss (the receiver of this message) is more likely to believe that the subordinate is
deceptive and casual—based on the non-serious non-verbal cues than the sincere verbal
message.

6.5. Delivery mode

After ideation and preparation of the message. The delivery mode of the sender’s message is
also important.

Message dissemination that is too fast or too slow (in case of oral delivery) or illegible (in case
of written messages) does not produce the desired results.

7. Inappropriate audience (receiver) analysis

Analyzing one’s audience (receiver) is the first and fundamental step in planning
communication. This is paramount in any interpersonal communication.

In fact, it is very important to understand the audience’s background and preferences, and
their expectations from the communication. This greatly influences the outcome of any
communication.

To effectively analyze an audience, these crucial factors must be considered:

• age,

• gender,

• educational qualifications,

• level of maturity,

• job functions,

• skills,

• language preferences,

• socio-economic backgrounds,

• culture,

• needs and interests,

• the venue of communication,

• the channel of communication, etc.

Only after considering all these factors can a profile of the intended audience be created,
allowing the sender to communicate in a manner that is understood by the audience.

8. Lack of emotional intelligence quotient (EQ)

Our emotions are the primary source of our energy, aspirations and impelling force.
Emotional intelligence (EI) helps in understanding and exploring our own as well as others’
emotions in response to different situations, whether it is pleasant or unpleasant.

With emotional intelligence, we are able to weigh situations, understand others’ feelings
resulting from those situations.

EI also enhances the management of our own emotions in tandem with the situation and
makes us get along with each other in a conducive and productive manner.

The lack of EI may make us insensitive or hypersensitive to others’ emotions and states of
mind. For example, a manager trying to console his subordinate on death of his only son in a
car accident says, ‘Don’t worry, every loss opens doors for new opportunities’, shows
insensitivity towards others’ feelings and emotions.

9. Lack of social intelligence (SI)

Social intelligence is the human capacity to understand what is happening in the outer world;
how it affects one’s inner self; and how one should respond to it in a socially acceptable
manner. It is our ability to get along well with others and to get them to co-operate, or, at
least, not compete with us.

Social intelligence involves our awareness of situations and the social dynamics that govern
them, our insight into our own perceptions and reaction patterns aided by our precise
knowledge of communication styles and strategies which help us achieve our objectives.

In short, social intelligence encompasses the whole range of our relationship with other
humans and with the world in general. The lack of it would mean living in an alienated world
where no one bothers about anyone.

10. Lack of cross-cultural intelligence (CCI)

Every single culture differs widely from other cultures in a number of ways, such as in the
tempo of cultural change, the dimension of their influence, the degree of their complexity,
and the extent of their tolerance towards outsiders.

Cross-cultural intelligence (CCI) is all about understanding one’s own as well as others’
cultures.

This intelligence is based on the clear understanding of, firstly our own self, our culture, then
of people around us, and their culture.
It helps us in recognizing others’ cultural diversity; respecting those diversities in their context
and congenially reconciling with their diversities to ensure the best outcome from any
cross-cultural transactions.

The lack of CCI may be due to ethnocentrism, a human tendency to judge all other groups
according to one’s own group’s standards, behaviour, and customs.

Our ethnocentrism measures the extent to which we are judgmental of other cultures and
are unwilling or unable to implement culturally relevant solutions. Our ethnocentrism can
also be a critical barrier to our cross-cultural communication.

Oftentimes, ethnocentric people use culture-based stereotypes, do not adapt their working
style and are not open to incorporating information and customs from other cultures. This is
hazardous not only to the individual’s success at the workplace but also to organizational
growth.

11. Lack of credibility or reputation

Credibility is the level of trust, reliability, and sincerity that an individual brings to a situation.
Credibility, both of the content and the person (sender as well as receiver) is a prerequisite to
any successful communication.

It is credibility that makes the message or the sender worthy of consideration. Likewise, the
sender’s reputation, if high, makes the message more reliable, but if it is low, it makes the
message dubious in the eyes of the receiver(s).

If the credibility of the sender or the message is questioned, the quality of the receiver’s
understanding, acceptance and response tends to get reduced. For example, a
physiotherapist’s advice on physical fitness is likely to be taken more seriously than the one
given by a lawyer.

12. Lack of respect towards the receiver(s) of the message

Like credibility, mutual respect between the sender and the receiver is important for a
successful communication. This mutual respect allows each party to invest time in
speaking/listening to the other party.

13. Lack of right attitude/collaborative effort

For a successful communication, it is important that the sender does away with the attitude
of I-viewpoint, a lop-sided self-centric approach devoid of empathy and respect to others and
switch to You-viewpoint, a balanced, empathetic and respectful receiver-centric approach.

The You-viewpoint (also called ‘You-attitude’) simply means that the sender (the initiator of
communication) gives primary consideration to receiver’s point of view when composing and
sending messages. Learn more here !

14. Incorrect selection of the channel of communication

It is important to select the correct channel to suit the message type. A message possessing
valid content but delivered through a wrong channel may not get the results it would have
otherwise got.
Even with a reliable sender, a comprehensible and credible message would fall flat if a wrong
channel is selected.

For instance, an oral face-to-face communication is preferable to a written one—a text

message, e-mail—if the sender wants to congratulate a colleague on the latter’s recent
promotion.

In this way the sender would not only be expressing greater depth of feeling through the
verbal message, but would also be able to complement it with the affectionate non-verbal
cues.

RECEIVER-CENTRIC BARRIERS

Causes of Receiver-centric Communication Barriers

Receiver-centric barriers are the communication barriers that result from shortcomings at the
receiver’s end.

These may occur at any of the ‘post-message delivery’ stages: decoding, comprehending,
interpreting or analyzing the message in the communication process .

The factors that cause receiver-centric communication barrier are discussed below.

1. Poor listening

Poor listening behaviour may result from lack of interest about the topic of the message.

A receiver may feel averse to listening to a message if he/she is not interested in the
particular topic, thus resulting in communication failure.

2. Lack of relevant information

If the receiver does not have access to the recent developments and is not abreast with their
domain’s nitty-gritty or lacks conceptual clarity about the topic, indifference may develop for
the subject matter.

The receiver thus might not like to waste time in listening to or reading the message.

3. Inattentiveness

The receiver may become inattentive while receiving a message, especially when the message
contains a new idea.

The human mind is naturally apprehensive towards change and prone to resist new ideas.

Change also threatens existing security and stability. Thus, the moment a new idea is
presented, one unconsciously becomes inattentive.

Sometimes, external or internal distractions may cause inattentiveness.

For example, it could be that an employee does not listen to the supervisor’s instructions
attentively because of the honking of a vehicle outside (a phenomenon of external
distraction), or because of amusement at the supervisor’s artificial anger (a phenomenon of
internal distraction).

Sometimes, when the receiver has received the message partially, his mind may get busy in
framing a reply to it or in guessing what might be said, thus missing out what is actually being
said.

4. Time deficit

Time is precious not only for the sender but likewise the receiver.

Any message received in a hurry with less focus or a disturbed state of mind is unlikely to get
the desired result.

It is important that both the sender and the receiver devote sufficient time exchanging
information and feedback respectively.

5. Lack of language proficiency

Because language is a symbolic means of communication, it creates possibilities for

distortion or misunderstanding of the original message.

Language proficiency is important both for the sender as well as the receiver in any
communication process.

The lack of it may cause poorly explained or misunderstood messages resulting in confusion.

This is because the words that a sender chooses are received and deciphered through the
receiver’s mental filters based on his/her experience and abilities.

The lack of language proficiency or linguistic deficiency will not only dilute the efficacy of the
communication but might also lead to its failure.

Some areas that demands little tidiness are as follows:

(a) Interpretation of words

Words play a vital role in communication. Words can convey divergent meanings depending
on the context.

There is possibility that the receiver of a message does not assign the meaning as the sender
had intended.

This may lead to miscommunication. For example, in the sentence, ‘The government has
agreed to bail out the company’, the actual meaning of bail out—‘providing financial
aid’—may not get interpreted by the receiver in the same way if s/he is not able to
differentiate between bail and bail out.

(b) Bypassed instructions

Bypassing occurs if the sender and the receiver of the message attribute different meanings
to the same word or use different words for the same meaning.
For example, in the sentence, ‘The auditor carefully assayed the balance sheet of the
company’, the actual meaning of assayed—‘examined’—may get bypassed by the receiver if
he or she is not able to differentiate between assay and essay.

(c) Denotations and Connotations

Words have two types of meanings—denotative and connotative.

Denotative meaning only names the object without indicating its positive or negative
qualities.

Words like table, book, account, and meeting are denotative by nature.

Connotative meaning, on the other hand, contains qualitative judgments and personal
reactions.

Words like honest, competent, cheap, sincere, etc., are connotative by nature.

Some of these words like honest, noble and sincere have favourable connotations; others like
cowardly, slow, and incompetent have unfavourable connotations.

There also exist a large number of troublesome words that have favourable connotations in
one context and unfavourable connotations in the other.

One such word is cheap. Ponder these two sentences:

• The suppliers supplied us cheap stuff this time.

• Many shops sell things cheap during the sale season.

In the first sentence, cheap refers to ‘inferior quality’ and has an unfavourable connotation
while in the second sentence, it refers to ‘reasonable prices’ and is used favourably.

Likewise, fat cheque, free enterprise, huge profits, etc., can be interpreted differently in
different contexts.

It is because of the connotative meanings of the words that sometimes a remark originally
intended as a compliment is interpreted as offending by the receiver.

6. Information overload

With advances in computer and communication technologies, as well as the expansion of the
Internet and long-distance access to journals and websites that provide in-depth information,
we are constantly bombarded with an avalanche of information from every direction, and as a
result we are experiencing an information overload.

Too much information is as bad as too little because it reduces the receiver’s ability to
concentrate effectively on the most important messages.

People facing information overload sometimes tend to ignore major part of the messages,
delay in responding to others, answer only partially to the messages, respond inaccurately to
the messages, spend less time with each message, and respond only superficially.

7. Lack of right attitude/collaborative effort

 For successful communication, it is important that the sender does away with a judgmental
attitude (a preconditioned mindset towards others) and switch to a non-judgmental attitude
(an open minded, unbiased approach).

A non-judgmental attitude calls for trust and respect towards the sender’s domain
expertise—education and experience.

8. Overconfidence and under-confidence

Communication may also fail due to the receiver’s overconfidence or under-confidence about
a topic.

Both situations are dangerous as an overconfident receiver may take the message too lightly
while an under-confident receiver may not even have guts to question or clarify the doubts
related to the message.

Just like the sender, it is important that the receiver of the message is aptly qualified in the
related field.

An overqualified receiver may tend to get judgmental about the sender of the message while
an under-qualified receiver may not understand it properly.

Non-Verbal Communication

Verbal communication--- use of language/words as the means of communication

Non-Verbal--- message conveyed without the use of words/language.---- using non-verbal cues/signs

Two broad categories: body language and paralinguistic features.

Thus subtle aspects of voice and body play a significant part.

Body Language (kinesics) Paralinguistic features
Personal appearance Voice
Walk Volume
Facial expressions/gestures Pitch(intonation)—voice modulation
Posture Rate/speed
Hand movements Pauses
Eye-contact(very crucial)—[avoiding eye-contact can be a Articulation (how you express/produce speech sounds)
major barrier to communication] pronunciation

Some other aspects of non-verbal communication: Proxemics (distance); Chronemics (use of

time);Artefacts; Haptics
(touch)

Body language—universal language--- of much significance since whenever there’s a clash between
verbal and nonverbal messages the audience or receiver immediately goes after the non-verbal.
How to improve body language: --. Confident and elegant posture, movements, gestures to create a
favourable impression---pleasant facial expression and eye-contact can establish a rapport with the
audience--- your enthusiasm and confidence gets registered primarily through body language.

Paralinguistic features

Rate: number of words uttered per minute--- too fast indicates nervousness/lack of confidence---
too slow can create monotony--- lack of preparedness.
Ideal speed--- 125 to 150 words per minute in professional presentations.
Can have a slower pace if matter needs deep thought/meditation. Speedy delivery if something
casual or exciting is being shared.

Pauses: between different thought units to make it sound natural-- or else speech becomes
unnatural & hasty
Pauses required for the audience to understand and relate it with earlier statements
‘Timing’ of pauses very important--- a wrongly placed pause can distract the audience
It’s natural to pause at the conclusion of a thought unit
A longer pause—silence--- can turn the audience impatient
Vocalized pauses can spoil the impact of speech.---so also the overuse of repetitive expressions like
“you know”

Volume: low volume can be taken as lack of confidence--- too high as offensive/ boorishness—rejected by the audien
Pitch/Intonation/Voice modulation—rise and fall in human voice--- to suit particular emotions, moods
Pronunciation and articulation:--to make it as close to Standard English as possible Articulation—ability
to speak different sounds distinctly(no mixing or mumbling)