Are We Really Communicating?
Ever had someone say to you, “Hey I already told you that five times!” Why is something as simple as communication really so hard? It’s something we’ve all been working on since we came out of the womb…you’d think we’d be pretty good at it by now!
I know there have been lots of studies done on communication and what it boils down to is the three primary ways people communicate:
1. Auditory: this is the words themselves, what people hear.
2. Visual: this is what people see, the body language and gestures.
3. Kinesthetic: this is what people feel or touch or in the case of language the tonality.
Everyone has a dominant style for how they communicate and believe it or not, Auditory is the smallest percentage! I’ve heard varying stats quoted, but to give you a sense, about 7% of people are Auditory, 55% Visual, and 38% Kinesthetic.
The words & phrases people use can be a tip off for you for how someone prefers to communicate. Here are just a couple of words and phrases for each style:
1. Auditory: Loud and clear, Rings a bell, Tuned in/Tuned out, Sounds to me
2. Visual: Appears to me, Looks like, See to it, Clear picture
3. Kinesthetic: Come to grips with, Get a handle on, Get in touch with, Pain in the neck
The first step is to figure out your preferred style. Once you know that, you can then begin to figure out what styles other people prefer based on key words they use. If you’re curious about your style, send me an email at adams@maximumvp.com and I’ll send you an instrument you can use that takes about 5 minutes to complete and will give you a good sense for your preferred communication style. So get out there and start communicating! For an overview on the tool to determine your style, visit https://maximumvp.com/mvp-services/extended-disc-training/