What is Noise?

1. What is Noise?

2. Noise • Any external or internal barrier that blocks communication. • There are 7 types of noise…

3. Physical Noise • Environmental – Noise in the environment, such as a television blaring, phone ringing, traffic, talking, etc. • Biological – Physical noise WITHIN the sender or the receiver, such as speech or hearing impediments, hunger, feeling ill, etc.

4. Psychological Noise • Emotional Noise – happens when the emotions of the sender or the receiver block communication. For example, you’re too angry to really hear what someone is saying, or your too excited about tonight’s game to really understand what your teacher is saying. • Social Noise – when our social judgements block communication. For example, when our biases or stereotypes prevent us from listening fairly to someone, or when they change the way we communicate with someone because of their or our social group.

5. Language or Semantic Noise • Vocabulary Noise – we don’t understand the words of others or vice versa. Examples might be slang, technical language or cultural terms. • Grammar Noise – When the sender’s or the receiver’s grammar is incorrect or different from what we know, it can cause confusion in the message. Grammar noise can become “social” noise too, when we judge each others use (or misuse) of grammar.

6. Language or Semantic Noise • Structural Noise – This happens when our messages come out in a disorganized or unintelligible order. We ramble, or we’re upset and our message gets confused. Imagine someone trying to clearly describe a car accident that they were just in – the message will probably be mixed up and out of order. Sometimes emotional noise can CAUSE structural noise. Structural noise can also be caused by tiredness or a lack of interest and especially a lack of thought or preparation.