We all use many forms of communication, but most of us haven’t spent much time understanding the different forms of communication. Which form of communication we use the most and whether or not it is effective.
Understanding the different styles of communication is essential if we’re aiming to develop the effectiveness on how we interact with people on both professional and personal aspects especially when motivating your team.
Have you ever conducted a business meeting before where you can tell that your listeners’ attention is somewhere else? Are they checking their phone, answering emails, or doodling on their notepad? If so, it is possible that the style of communication you are using at that time may not be suitable for those people or situation.
We have found that by varying our communication styles, we are much more effective in our presentations and reach a broader audience. To help you, we are going to review 4 styles of communications to help you learn which styles you might need to incorporate into your meetings and training. See how you could potentially change the pattern in the way you approach or deliver your statements for better results. The very best presenters incorporate elements for all communication styles to make sure that they are capturing everyone's attention.
ANALYTICAL COMMUNICATOR
Analytical communicators are often the people who like real numbers, hard data, or any tangible proofs to confirm certain information given to them. Most of them are not rude; rather they are just as likely to become more of a critic than a listener especially if they cannot find specific answers from any given statements to prove your point.
One of the examples for this type of communicator is if you mentioned to the group, “Guys, I appreciate your hard work! The results went massively high compared to the last quarter!”
Analytical communicators would more likely to react as, “What does ‘massively high’ mean?”
To best capture, their attention, instead of generalizing your statement, try to phrase your ideas in a way the best resonates with them like, “Great job! The total result of our closed sales has increased 20% since the last quarter!”
In short, try your best to avoid emotional or expressive languages since analytical communicators are data-driven, but they are perceived to have the informational intelligence to contribute and help the team.
PERSONAL COMMUNICATOR
Unlike analytical communicators, personal communicators' style works somewhat the opposite. They tend to value emotional statements and would generally try to use the style to gain or build relationships with others.
As with our first statement example say when you mentioned to the group, “Guys, I appreciate your hard work! The results went massively high compared to the last quarter!”
Personal communicators would be generally happy with what you said, or you can increase the emotion a little by saying, “Kudos to everyone! Our total result for closed sales have increased 20% since the last quarter, and that’s the first time in two years we’ve done that! Thanks to everyone!”
When speaking to personal communicators, they are very relationship-focused and like to know how they have or can impact the results.
INTUITIVE COMMUNICATORS
Intuitive communicators are not difficult to handle. They are generally like to focus more on the bigger picture and don’t like to get too bogged down in the nitty-gritty. Try to avoid or eliminate the details and cut right to the chase. You’ll find that these people talk less and are more about results and the end goal rather than the step by step. They are also not interested in small talk and “fluff.”
As with our first statement example, a way to change the statement to appeal to Intuitive Communicators would be “We are 60% of goal so far this year, and we only have another 30,000 units to go for this quarter.”
In most cases, this style of communication would often be popular among bosses and clients. So it’s best to understand the right approach by giving them important information first. Avoid small talk and irrelevant data which allows them to tune out of the presentation.
FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATORS
This type of communicators can be the most favorable amongst all. Functional communicators are good listeners and patient. They tend to welcome most of the information given in the process, and they like thinking through each of the details provided. They rarely miss single information when implementing important plans or procedures.
Functional communicators will find comfort with ideas presented to them, but in most cases, these communicators are not fully compatible with intuitive communicators. They won’t rock the boat in a meeting, but do well when they are included in the meeting in some way.
When we train at Hire Smart Virtual Employees, we make sure that all our training appeals to all types of communicators, so we have the best results.
Having a hard time finding which communication style works best for your business? Consider hiring a virtual employee from us to help you in the areas of your business that could help you expand and grow.
Feel free to book an appointment with me today and let's talk about how we can best help you.