KNOWING YOURSELF

Last week I touched on the importance of knowing your audience. This is one of the main pillars of communication that I teach and it is such an important one for business owners to master.

Let’s dive in shall we?!

The first step to knowing your audience, is to know yourself. You have to discover your own communication style before you can effectively reach your audience.

It can be difficult to know where to begin when identifying your own style of communication. Here are the four types of communicators and some of the traits they possess:

• TIMID: often we associate the word timid with shy, weak, scared, or soft. I’m telling you to get rid of those connotations right now. Timid communicators may or may not be any of those things, but what they most definitely are, is present. Timid communicators often find themselves wanting to be more assertive in their communication, which leads them to prepare extensively, study, rehearse, and research so that they can feel as sure of themselves as possible when communicating. 

• OBSERVANT: observant communicators are some of the most skilled communicators! Observant communicators take their time to observe, or read the room (or wherever the audience may be) before they begin their communication. They are fantastic listeners and are masters of reading non-verbal cues. Observers are able to feed on the energy in the room and craft their message/response based on that energy.

• CONFIDENT: confident communicators are masters of their own abilities and have excellent storytelling abilities. They know they have to be aware of the atmosphere when they are in front of people so they can use the audience to help guide their message. Confident communicators may not always take as much to prepare a speech or message, but they are secure in their ability to form their message in the moment and respond to the energy in the room.

• DOMINANT: dominant communicators tend to lead or take over when there are multiple speakers in a room. Dominant communicators place high importance on being heard, even at the expense of others who may also need to be heard. In a singular setting, dominant speakers will try to say as much as possible, even if it has little to do with the point of their message. Dominant communicators have to be careful not to overly exert their presence or they may turn off the audience before they even get started.

These brief definitions should help you understand a little more about yourself as a communicator. These descriptions apply to both spoken and written communication, although it is more obvious which type of communicator you are in a speaking environment than a written one.

Which one are you? You’ll probably notice that you have traits of more than one type of communicator, that is perfectly fine! Now that you know a little bit about your own style, you can better understand how your audience perceives you!

Want to learn more about your own communication style? You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook or click HERE to get on the waiting list for 1 on 1 coaching and be the first to know when enrollment opens. I can’t wait to help you learn more about YOUR communication style!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ciao for now!