The communicator should know the communicative limitations and hurdles in the communication process.
Dissonance
This audience problem occurs when an action is taken that is inconsistent with what a person knows or has previously believed, or the action is taken after two or more attractive alternatives are considered. The person is uncomfortable until some dissonance reduction is achieved by seeking out messages that help adjust beliefs to action.
Channel Noise
A term is used to describe anything that interferes with the fidelity of the physical transmission of the message (Such as static on radio or type too small to be read easily). But broadly speaking, channel noise may be thought of as including all distraction between source and audience. The professional communicator helps to overcome its effects by attention getting devices and by careful use of the principle of redundancy.
Semantic Noise
This occurs when a message is misunderstood even thought it is received as it was transmitted. Semantic noise can be reduced if the communicator will take pains to define term and adjust vocabulary to interests and needs of the audience.
Feed Back Effects
These are the reactions that take place along the communication process and that are transmitted backward. According to New English Dictionary; feedback is a reciprocal effect of one person or thing upon another; a reaction or response that modifies corrects, etc, the behavior of that which produced the reaction or response. Without feedback the signal that is simulated by an act of communication, biological, mechanical, human or animal meaningful contact halts and cannot make progress. Feedback is the regenerative circuit or loop of communication
Opinion Leaders and Two Step Flow of Communication
Sometimes communication does not affect the masses directly but through different leaders. There are always a few persons who enjoy special importance in the eyes of the people and also have respect in society. They can play an effective role in changing people’s opinion. They may be political personalities, villagers, actors, famous players etc.
Three researches Paul Lazarafeld, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Guadet, who studied the 1940 Ainerican Presidential Election campaign, posited the theory two-step flow of communication. In the process of interviewing people about the election, they found that much of voter’s information about the campaign came from other people. This concept has been expanded upon since that time, but the primary hypotheses remain essentially the same.
We all acquainted with someone we respect for his or her opinions on world affairs. This other person is usually much attuned to the mass media and may read more than one newspaper per day, some news magazines and also listen to a number of radio and TV news presentation. We may thus tend to relay on this person’s judgment on world affairs. The type of medium also determines how and what influence an opinion leader functions.
In addition to the indirect communication that we receive via the Two-Step Flow, we may turn directly to the media to receive more information, to reinforce an opinion presented to us by an opinion leader, or to form our own opinions.
There are four types of opinion leaders who can influence public opinions:
- A person who is considered as the representative of a specific style or interest. Imran Khan in his own field.
- A person who has a place in society due to experience and knowledge in a particular field and the people belonging to that field will readily accept this opinion.
- A person who has links with important personalities, who creates news.
- A person, who has keen interest in collecting information about different people and their difficulties, If the communication is directed towards the opinion leaders and succeeds, then it succeeds totally. If the opinion leaders do not accept the new idea or react adversely, communication cannot succeed.
Hurdles/Barriers in Comunication
There are two types of barriers in effective communication:
- Physical Barriers
- Psychological Barriers
Physical barriers occurs when a message cannot reach completely or incompletely to its destination Channel Noise is also an element in physical barriers. Even if a message reaches its. psychological barriers may rise between source and receiver. The principal psychological barriers are as follows:
Language
Language is the most important tool of human communication. If it is difficult, strange and above the level of the receiver, the message will not get across. Language should be easy the kind we use in daily life.
Field of Experience
If the field of experience of communicator and audience is not the same, there will be a great psychological barrier. The communicator should send the message to the receiver according to Kis/her frame of reference.
Religion
If the message is against the religious beliefs of the receiver, it will not be accepted.
Social and Cultural Norms
If the message does not fit into the social and cultural norms of the receiver, it will not be accepted.
Channel
After language, the main hurdle in communication is that of the channel, suppose the language is easy, message is not against the receiver’s experience, religious beliefs, social and cultural traditions but the medium or channel used for communication is not appropriate, the message will not get across eg a message for farmers in English Daily, will not reach them