4 Communication Styles and How to Use Each of Them Effectively

Published by
Sherrie Hurd, A.A.

Don’t just approach someone and speak. Learn communication styles to get your point across much easier.

You might see communication as a fairly simple part of life. The truth is, there are many different communication styles which people use. Now, I don’t mean styles like aggressive or passive communication, rather I am referring to styles which all have pros and cons to consider.

Communications styles and their usage

As I said, the varied communication styles have both good and bad points. For now, I want to talk about how we can benefit from each type of communication. With this information, we can understand when to use each style to keep interaction easy and smooth. Here are the main 4 types of communication styles to utilize.

1. The Analytical Style

When you communicate in an analytical mindset, you are basically looking at facts without the emotional impact. For example, you want the numbers and not a vague statement like “many”, “few”, or “a large amount”.

When it comes to analytical thinking, you want specific language and data in order to understand each situation that’s handed to you. When it comes to emotion or elaboration, the analytical person has little patience for such additional talk.

Now, the good side to the analytical style of communication is the ability to look at things logically. Others admire you for being a storehouse of information. If someone wants to know scores, you can provide these scores without beating around the bush with fine details of the emotions you had while watching a game. You get to the point, and others find this useful.

This type of communication is most effective in situations where fast facts are needed, like information hotlines or books. You can use this style to convey quick numbers in jobs where this ability is preferred.

2. The Functional Style

While this style of communication closely resembles the analytical style, it’s different in one important way. The functional thinker pays close attention to detail in the information they provide.

For instance, when it comes to numbers, the functional communicator can explain how the facts were derived from other facts and statistics. With the functional communicator, you shouldn’t worry about receiving half the information because they never miss the small things.

Detail is the obvious good point with this style of communication. The people that use this style are tuned to the finer points of the argument. You shouldn’t try to undermine this type of person because trust me, they usually know 100% what they’re talking about.

The reason for this ability is due to thorough research of many topics. The functional mindset is always good when facts need to be understood like with teaching or instructing.

3. The Intuitive Style

While the functional thinker spends time taking you through a process step by step, the intuitive thinker would rather skip right to the point. They have no interest, most of the time, in how the information was gathered. They just want the end facts and with this, they make decisions.

If there are many things, the intuitive person doesn’t care about the number of things, but just that there are enough. Do you see my point?

The up-side to this communication style is that they waste no time. When you get to the meat of a conversation, so you can move on to the next thing on your to-do list, so to speak.  Intuitive styles look at the big picture and try not to get stalled by excessive information that they feel they don’t need anyway. They are good at thinking outside the box as well.

The intuitive style of a thinking is most useful when working on projects and creative endeavors. They see the end result on their work and strive to take steps based on the end goal. When it comes to focus, this is the person you need on your team.

4. The Personal Style

The most emotional style of communication comes from the personal thinker. This person uses emotion to gauge not only the facts but also what the other person is feeling. They are diplomatic and pay attention to the overall health of the relationship. They often have a tendency to be a peacemaker, working to smooth over conflicts in conversation.

The personal style is wonderful because it can build good relationships with others during the ongoing communication. People who use this style are experienced in binding groups of friends together, especially during hard times or disagreements.

They can also pick up on vibes that all other forms of communication miss. This style is most effective in healing broken or wounded relationships between friends or sympathizing with someone who is emotionally hurt.

Navigating communication styles

If you are unsure of your own communication styles, pay close attention when you are around friends and family members. Do you break down information for them, or do you hand out quick answers and stick to facts? Maybe you are emotional and wish to connect with your friends on a personal level. Yet, maybe you want the point of the whole conversation void of the facts.

Whatever your style may be, remember there are upsides and downsides. As you navigate life, you will find that your style of communication isn’t flawed at all. In fact, it is quite effective in its own right. So, have confidence in the way you think and gather information. Someone out there needs your style of communication.

References:

  1. https://www.uky.edu
  2. https://www.forbes.com

View Comments

  • You're right. Clear communication is vitally important and the types of communication you have reviewed have a lot of value. I am going to begin teaching an online class in the near future to kids who are wanting to learn to speak English as a second language. I believe that English is a difficult language to learn because many words sound the same but are spelled differently and have a different meaning in the context of the sentence. I am looking forward to this experience because I will learn from my students as well as teach them. The exchange of cultural ideas will be very interesting to me.

    • Wow Gary, that sounds great. I am happy that you have found something that fulfills you. I think it is so important to teach the right way to speak as we teach languages. So, many things are misunderstood in translation. After writing this article, I realized that the way we say things can be just as important as what we say. Thank you for reading and your constructive input.

  • Thank you. That was very informative. I believe I may be a combination of the last two of the above mentioned communication styles.

    • Avalon,

      Thank you for reading. It's interesting to see these communication styles written out on paper, so to speak. It helps you see things within yourself.