In situations such as disciplinary reviews, accident reviews or review of inadequate performance, the receiver may feel resistance at the start of the exchange process. The title Listener Barrier fixes ownership of this barrier with the listener. No matter what the cause of listener resistance or the reluctance to overcome it, it is necessary to neutralize listener resistance to achieve commitment. These barriers generally relate to style and content of communication, both of which originate with the sender. Sender has not decided or specified precisely what listener response is expected.
Sender incorrectly assumes the listener has adequate knowledge to understand the message.
Sender uses words and examples unfamiliar to the listener. The sender may say the message in a way that turns of the listener or may even antagonize the listener to cause a totally different message to come through than the one intended. The 500 most commonly used words in the English language have 14,070 dictionary meanings. They mean different things to different people. More words are used than are necessary to convey the message, which forces the listener to make conclusions about which words carry the real meaning of the message.