Updated April 14, 2023
Introduction to Effective Communication Styles
How one’s confidence level defines the trait of one’s personality; similarly, one’s communication skills reflect the approach and attitude of a person. Regular communication with people you are working with is imperative in the current dynamic business environment to stay proactive and informed.
Effective Communication Styles also holds a vital position in our personal life, as it bridges gaps and connects people with new ideas, expressions, and visions. So does one need to be an extrovert to be able to communicate with its surroundings? Or an introvert suffers from poor communication skills? Your communication style speaks a lot about how you deal with people and situations and their probability of being positive, negative, or assertive.
Effective Communication Styles
1. Aggressive Communication
Getting things done by others may seem easy, and the best way to suit you is by dominating and raising your voice with an intimidating posture. If this attracts you, your personality will adopt an aggressive communication style forceful and hostile manner in dealing with people and situations.
It can’t be said that adapting to this communication style is heinous or unethical as it may be relevant for a particular work setup or sometimes with difficult people. The attribute associated with this communication style leads to people being too loud, rude, and threatening to others to meet organizational commitments, deadlines, etc.
A harmful component of this style is its capacity to humiliate or hurt others; that’s what the person practicing the communication style would return. Aggressive communication would make the person an intuitive communicator with the least patience in getting into the nitty-gritty of the process and being straightforward in its approach.
2. Passive Communication
My personal opinion, feelings, and ideas can wait; let others raise this issue, and I may follow him… does this line sounds similar to what you think when it comes to growing your voice or objecting to things you feel uncomfortable with, if so, then you may have a passive communication style.
Silence is a silent killer for these people as they keep things up to them for too long until it reaches a stage of high tolerance, and it is then when these people have a high outburst which sometimes may create situations at the workplace. People with passive communication styles in their personal life also are easy to live with, as they are great listeners and are considered good friends.
They have a polite and soft tone that attracts people to them very soon. Sometimes, being quiet and shy, they avoid making eye contact or have slumped body structure which shows a sign of low confidence. Such people are often anxious about their future and have lesser control over their surroundings which may lead to depression or a feeling of resentfulness as their needs are ignored by others and by themselves.
3. Assertive Communication
I know my rights, responsibility, and duties; no one can understand them better than me. This could be your communication style if you believe and follow it with your whole heart and soul. Assertive communication makes the person straightforward and capable of stating their opinion and feeling in public without fear. It enables the person to firmly advocate for his rights and needs in any situation without harming or violating the rights of others.
A person with high confidence caters to their own needs and feelings and respects others. People with assertive communication are generally very clean-hearted and clear with an idea of their personal choice; they are not easily influenced or can be bluffed by others in management setup or their personal life.
These individuals respect and value time, as they have a clear vision of their emotional, spiritual, and physical needs and demand respect not by advocating but through their contribution. Do you believe in equal entitlement to express each other respectfully? Then indeed, this communication style suits your personality, making you feel connected to people around you and having control of your life.
4. Passive-Aggressive Communication
You may appear subtle, but you can clearly show your resentment and disapproval indirectly. You may appear cooperative, but actually, you are not. Does this sound similar to you? If so, this could be your communication style. People with passive-aggressive communication styles work behind the scenes, making them incapable of expressing their resentment toward others directly.
This communication style makes the follower feel stuck, powerless, and resentful. They have a lot to stay with, objections over certain things, but they do get stuck deciding to raise their voices against right or wrong. People with this communication style often have a habit of muttering to them and cribbing over unacceptable issues. At the same time, they have difficulty acknowledging their anger.
One can spot such a person by their facial expression, which is usually unmatched by their feelings or behavior; for example, you may see them smiling even when angry.
5. Manipulative Communication
The task assigned to you seems equally tricky as mine, but you have the resources to accomplish it, and I don’t have…. Is this familiar to what you may have heard your team member say in the office to you? Then this is what manipulative communication sounds like; being extremely calculative and cunning at the same time. People with this communication style are crafty and try to control others by showing a sorry figure about them.
They are very straightforward and do not think twice before keeping their self-desire a priority; they look for opportunities to get their task done through others or by asking for help. They generally believe in making others obliged or creating a feeling of sorry for them by citing a small face or lying sometimes. People with such communication skills are highly competent in influencing others for their self-purpose and taking full advantage of others as required.
Conclusion
Effective Communication Styles connects a person a lot with their personality: it eventually becomes a part of his working communication style, considering the ability to command respect, advocate the fulfillment of one’s rights, as well as the ability to stand for what is right and wrong.
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