The term communication comes from the Latin word “Communis” which means sharing. Effective communication is when the message conveyed by the sender is understood by the receiver in exactly the same way as it was intended.
Good communication skills are important for personal growth and success, and it’s no surprise that so many people are interested in improving theirs.
But the problem is that everyone is unique and has their own way of communication-based on their personality traits, so there is no one size fits all approach here.
So, if you want to improve your communication skills, the first thing is identifying the kind of communicator that you are.
There is a whole spectrum of kinds of communicators that are there based on personality traits and behaviors ranging from passive to passive-aggressive to submissive to assertive.
If you are curious to find out the kind of communicator you are, you have come to the right place.
Here is a quick visual personality test that will reveal your communication style.
All you have to do is:
Look at the optical illusion below and notice what you happen to see first.
And then scroll down and find out how what you saw first reveals the way you communicate with friends, family and everyone around you.
1) Man’s Leg
If the first thing that you noticed while looking at the image happens to be Man’s leg, then you are the kind of person who likes to communicate directly.
You are the kind of person who is able to articulate and share his thoughts and feelings very easily with other people. That’s awesome. It’s a great thing because it helps you to put your point across and also makes you very adept at getting things done.
However, you are to the point communication can sometimes fail to accommodate the feelings and emotions of other people.
You just need to be a little sensitive while communicating with others so that in the process of getting your work done and putting your point across you don’t unnecessarily hurt the feelings and emotions of those around you and hurt your relationships in the process.
2) Woman’s Legs
If the first thing that you noticed while looking at the image happens to be Woman’s legs, then you are the kind of person who likes to think before speaking.
You take the time to understand your feelings and thoughts and you look for the right time, place and words to communicate your feelings.
However in the process, there can be a delay in communication and by the time you sort your thoughts and feelings and find the right time and place to share your thoughts, the other person would have already misinterpreted your silence.
It’s good to take out time to understand your thoughts and feelings and look for the right setting for sharing them but in the process, your silence is totally open to being misinterpreted by the other person.
What you can do here is that instead of going cold turkey and giving no response, you can let the other person know that you are in the process of thinking and you would get back to them at the earliest.
In this way, you would avoid unnecessary hurt and confusion caused by your delayed response.
3) Both Legs
If the first thing that you noticed while looking at the image was both legs, then you are the kind of communicator who doesn’t usually think before speaking.
You have very strong opinions and extreme emotions and you like to share them as quickly as possible. This makes you spontaneous and witty and a lot of people admire you for your no holds barred attitude but it can also cause a lot of heartache to some people around you.
It would help you if you could just take a moment to step back and analyze your thoughts and feelings and how they would impact others instead of just blurting them out to other people.
Here is a bonus list of tips that I have compiled from Don Miguel Ritz’s classic book
“The Four Agreements” to help you improve your communication style and help you blossom into your highest potential:
3.Both