04/15/2023
LEARN TO COMMUNICATE ASSERTIVELY
By Dr. Johnson Iyilade
One of the core communication skills you need to develop for effective communication in all your human relationships in life is being assertive. Whether at work, at home, with friends, or with family, assertive communication will help you build and facilitate good connections with the people you interact with.
Now, the assertive style of communication differs from other styles such as passive, passive-aggressive, and aggressive.
1) PASSIVE style of communication is when you are just mute and quiet and don’t express your feelings or opinions in conversations. You easily give in and say “YES” to other people’s requests and demands because you don’t want any conflict. It is when you have a fear that your opinion will attract criticism.
2) PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE style of communication is when on the surface you are passive but underneath you are angry, and you simply communicate that anger in a subtle, indirect way to get what you want. It is when you appear to cooperate but secretly do things to annoy or sabotage others.
3) AGGRESSIVE style of communication is when you invade another person’s space, force your opinion on them in an intimidating way and dismiss their ideas and opinions. You often lose your temper and instill fear in other people so that they forcefully submit to you and do what you want.
4) ASSERTIVE style of communication means being able to express your opinions, thoughts, feelings, perspectives, and points of view in a non-confrontational way that is clear and direct while still respecting others and acknowledging their own opinion. It means you are confident in who you are and have a strong sense of self-worth and you are not fearful of confrontation or conflict in conversation.
Communicating in an assertive manner will help you build self-confidence and give you the freedom to share your perspectives, thoughts, and opinions in a way that builds a strong and healthy relationship with the people you interact with in life.ďż˝