Four Styles for Effective Communication

Have you ever met someone that you just couldn’t get through to? While there could be many reasons
for this, one of the most common reasons is that your communication “style” is different than the other
persons’ communication style. The good news is that this gives you an easy way to quickly improve the
effectiveness of your communication by adapting your communication style to match theirs. Let me
illustrate what I mean

My wife and I have quite different styles of communication. She loves details and I just want the bottom
line. When I get home from work at the end of the day and she asks me “how was your day?” I am likely
to respond with a simple “fine”, or maybe give her a quick summary of one or two of the most
important events. But when I ask her the same question, I had better be prepared to hear the story of
her entire day in excruciating (for me) detail. Because of my communication style, I don’t need or want
the details, but because of her communication style, she needs and wants to give them.

Of course this is just an example, but we all face the challenge of communicating with people who have
a different style of communication than our own. In this short article we’ll look at the four “styles” of
communication and learn how to communicate with each one more effectively. Our natural tendency in
communicating is to use our own style because it is what comes naturally and automatically to us. But if
we want to be better communicators, we need to adapt our style to that of the other person.

Here are the four styles. After you read each one stop for a minute and write down the names three
people who you know that have that style.

Style #1 - The bottom line person

The bottom line person is easy to spot because they just want the facts and nothing but the facts.
Because of this, many times they can be perceived as bossy and insensitive. The bottom line person is
extremely goal oriented and their major motivation is to get things done. They’ll take a project and run
with it. Many times they won’t even have a plan when they begin. They’ll just forge ahead with an
attitude of “we’ll figure it out as we go”.

The bottom line person paints with a broad brush and has little use for details, so don’t give them any
more details than are absolutely necessary to get your point across. Here are some tips for
communicating with a bottom line person:
• Be efficient and businesslike
• Get to the point
• Set and clarify goals and objectives
• Give them conclusions. Only provide details if asked.
• Solve problems and objections
• Talk in terms of results not methods.

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Style #2 - The people person.
You know the people person… they’re the life of the party and lots of fun. They love people and love to
talk. Their natural sociability allows them to talk for long periods of time about almost anything. They
have an attractive personality and are enthusiastic, curious, and expressive.

Here are some tips for communicating with the people person:
• Leave plenty of time for talk and social niceties
• Ask them about their family, children etc. And be prepared to talk about yours
• If possible, let them “experience” what you are communicating
• Talk in terms of people and stories
• Use lots of examples

Something to think about: What will happen when the people person who loves to talk tries to
communicate with the bottom line person who just wants to get to the point?

Style #3 - The “can’t we all get along” person

The person with a “get along” communication style typically has a low key personality and is calm, cool
and collected. They tend to be patient, well balance and happily reconciled with life. “Get along” people
are the largest percentage of the population and they are typically competent and steady workers who
do not like to be involved in conflict. When there is conflict they may be called upon to mediate the
problem. They are good listeners and usually have many friends. One of their major motivations is to
avoid offending anyone.

Here are some tips for communicating with the “can’t we all get along” person:
• Don’t come on too strong.
• Earn their trust in small steps.
• Don’t ask for big decisions fright away.
• Provide plenty of reassurance.
• Talk in terms of security.

Something to think about: How can you use testimonials, guarantees, or examples to better
communicate with a “get along” person that you know?

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©copyright 2008 Paul Endress All rights reserved. Reprint with appropriate credit to author.
Style #4 - The detail person.
These are the “facts and figures” people. They love to gather details and organize things. They tend to
be deep, thoughtful, analytical, serious and purposeful. Because their communication style includes a
need for details, they sometimes hesitate to make decisions if they feel that they don’t have enough
facts. They love lists, charts, graphs and figures. Because they pay so much attention to details, they can
sometime be seen as being pessimistic. Many times they are frugal or economical.

Tips for communicating with the detail person:

• Make sure you are well prepared
• Have plenty of facts and figures
• Be prepared for skepticism
• Answer all of their questions
• Go relatively slow
• Give them time to think

Something to think about: how can the people person who loves to talk communicate better with the
detail person who wants facts and figures?

Conclusion
Since each person has a preferred style of communication, once you think about it and determine their
style, you can communicate better by adapting your style to meet the needs of their style.

Remember first rule of maximum communication: the success of the communication is the responsibility
of the communicator. If my wife needs to tell me the details of her day, I need to let her.

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©copyright 2008 Paul Endress All rights reserved. Reprint with appropriate credit to author.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I get my best stories from people such as you, so when you drop me an email at
pendress@maximumadvantage.com with a story about one of your communication challenges or successes that I
can share with future audiences, I’ll send you a link to my exclusive private on-line library of communication tools.
I’ll also select a few for a personal reply with specific suggestions to help you with your challenges.

I invite you to join me at an “Effective Communication for Today’s Competitive Workplace” seminar during 2009.
Visit the web site listed below for special pricing and bonuses worth thousands of dollars!

And remember that your greatest challenges contain the seeds of your greatest successes. Life is an adventure to
be lived, not a problem to be solved. Enjoy the journey!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Paul Endress is a nationally recognized authority in the application of psychology to
business in the areas of communication, leadership, team building, and workplace synergy.

Paul is the creator of The Everything Principle™ and is founder and president of Maximum Advantage, a consulting
firm dedicated to helping businesses seize the demographic and cultural challenges of today’s competitive and
diverse workplace; and empowers them to turn these challenges into a positive force that takes great companies
onward and upward to outstanding and beyond.

During his extensive business career, Paul has established nine companies of his own and his commentaries and
expert strategies on communication, hiring, and retention have appeared on the front page of USA TODAY, in the
New York Times, Entrepreneur and Forbes, and hundreds of trade publications.

His latest ventures include the successful “Effective Communication” workshops held across the U.S. where he
helps participants solve their greatest communication challenges. More information on these workshops and Paul
can be found at http://www.communicationtrainingseminars.com and http://www.paulendress.com. He may be
contacted at 800-788-2068 or pendress@maximumadvantage.com.

www.communicationtrainingseminars.com | Seminars across the US in 2009 1-800-788-2068

©copyright 2008 Paul Endress All rights reserved. Reprint with appropriate credit to author.