Take a close look at this list of common obstacles to good communication. They've been grouped around the main elements of the communication process – aim, audience, message, mechanism, result. If you want to develop the quality of your communication with others you'll need to overcome many of the obstacles below. Fortunately, the more you work at these and your experience grows the easier it becomes to clear these obstacles with ease. But don't become complacent, constant vigilance will be required.

Sender obstacles

 Perhaps the main reason for communication breakdown is the fact that the goal has not been clarified. The sender hasn't thought through why the communication is taking place. To establish the goal, before you communicate, ask yourself:
 What message do I want to get across?
 What do I want the receiver to understand and do?
 When someone communicates with you, ask yourself :
 Do I understand the reason for the communication?
 What do I understand having received it?
 Lack of preparation
 Lack of sensitivity to receiver's needs
 Lack of awareness of environment.

Receiver obstacles
 Attitudes to sender
 Poor listening
 Low attention
 Filtering

Environment obstacles
 Distance
 Distractions
 Multiple receivers
 Culture differences

Message obstacles
 Too much information
 Jargon and other language blocks
 Lack of congruence between message and needs
 Too many goals

Mechanism obstacles
 Inappropriate methods
 No reinforcing
 Lack of visual information on telecommunications
 Lack of proximity on telecommunications