Discuss the barriers to effective communication and suggest ways to overcome them.

1. 1 · Define barriers. Barriers (noise) are anything that blocks or distorts a message between the sender and the receiver.
2. 2 · Physical and technical barriers. Noise, distance, poor rooms; weak signals and faulty equipment.
3. 3 · Semantic barriers. Jargon, unclear words and different languages.
4. 4 · Psychological and perceptual barriers. Anger, fear, distrust, prejudice, poor listening, seeing what we expect.
5. 5 · Organisational and cultural barriers. Long chains of command, rigid rules, status gaps; different values, customs and gestures.
6. 6 · Ways to overcome them.
   • Plan the message
   • Simple language, the receiver's own language
   • Right channel and timing
   • Feedback and active listening
   • Fewer levels, open-door policy
   • Respect for cultures
7. 7 · Sri Lankan example. An English-only memo to Sinhala- and Tamil-reading staff, fixed with a trilingual notice and a face-to-face briefing.
8. 8 · Close. Barriers cannot be removed fully, but planning and feedback reduce most of them.

Scoring tip: Give every barrier a one-line example and pair it with a remedy. A two-column table of barrier and remedy is quick and clear.