Which Of These 4 Communication Styles Are You?

From the moment you are born, you have been constantly communicating with your family, friends, and co-workers. When you communicate it is not only about WHAT information you share with others but HOW others perceive you and HOW they understand the message you share with them.

Nothing is more frustrating than having a conversation with someone who doesn’t understand what you are saying! And believe me, as a foreigner, I went through this a lot! And it is even more frustrating when you speak the same language and yet you can’t understand each other! When you know someone longer, you adapt to their style, but what do you do when you meet someone for the first time?

As a therapist, I need to quickly identify who my clients are, what they need, and how I can help them create a programme that fits their needs. If I cannot quickly identify their communication style it would be very challenging for me to get through the consultation.

To better understand how we communicate and how we can be more effective with others, it would be useful to find out what our communication style is. Therefore, I want to introduce to you what are the 4 styles of communication. Please note, you are a combination of all 4 styles, but usually have one dominant one. See which style you think resonates with you.

1. Initiative communicators are energetic and enthusiastic. They like to meet new people and share stories. I would think that motivational speakers are more of this kind. They come across as very engaging and fun but are perceived to talk more than they listen.

2. Supportive communicators are seen as quite the opposite of the initiative type. They are calm and they listen more than they talk. They often engage the audience to listen to their views to receive feedback. The environment is generally more relaxed and personal. I have seen such speakers in health talks where they need to elicit some personal stories from the audience so that they can advise.

3. Direct communicators prefer clear information without any “fluff”. They are result-oriented and focused and can often dominate a conversation. They tend to get straight to the point to achieve their goals and are typically known as being aggressive or assertive in the way they communicate with others.

4. Analytical communicators like hard data and real numbers. They are precise and cautious, what they say is often backed by evidence. They may come across as too serious and often have little patience for lots of feelings and emotional words in communication. Too much analysis lead to paralysis and too many analytical reports lose the audience.

Now when you have an idea of what your style is, what are the styles of other people? Your family, friends, or co-workers? Can you modify your style to fit the situation?