Tools for Communication Excellence
Types of Communicators

The following and subsequent materials on this topic were taught to me by Richard Zarro, (friendship and hypnosis thumbnails of this website). I am, as are countless others, forever indebted to Richard both for what he gave and the things he taught and which have changed my life for the better forever as it did for others whose path(s) intertwined. I do not know why you wish to learn what I can share with you about communication skills. You each have your own reason for visiting here. Please feel free to share or ask questions. We look forward to hearing from you.

If I can listen to what he tells me,
If I can understand how it seems to him,
If I can sense the emotional flavor which it has for him
then there will be released potent forces of change within the listener and an undeniable connection between you both.

There are general clues to assist one in discovering the preferred means to perceive and relate to the environment. These cues include the rate of speech and tonal quality. Since humans tend to be consistent, you will gain extra clues as to the preferred perception from the person's occupation or profession as well as their hobbies and how they prefer to spend their free or leisure time. Each, for example, although using all their senses tend to make purchases for their use in accordance with their preferred method of perception. An auditory person chooses by how something sounds, a kinesthetic person by how it feels and a visual person by how it looks. Think about how you would purchase a car, for example. In turn, the favorite mode of perception determines one's communication type.

The following cartoon types represent the three common types of communication practiced. Although we use all our senses available to us in our communication, we have a preferred mode of use and which is the one most used and the one we are most at ease with both in speaking and listening (and in fact which carries over into all areas of our existence). If you listen closely to people you will easily start noticing their everyday figures of speech.

Discovering how to use this knowledge to increase your communication skills and other cues to each typeis fun to discover about others, learn about them and use these skills to build rapport or to decrease any existing barriers or potential barriers that may exist between you.

Auditory

After-thought Discuss Give an Account of Idle talk Listen Pay Attention to Rings a bell Talk Voice an opinion

Clear as a bell Enunciate Harmony Keynote speaker Manner of speaking Report State Tell the truth Well-informed

These people tend to like to hear themselves talk. When teaching them something, for example, these people respond best to being given verbal direction rather than being shown how to do something. They tend to have rhythmic, resonant voices which has a "melodious", distinctive tone. They tend to speak at a slower rate than most of us in this country who prefer visual orientation and the auditory person'ss voice tends to come from deep within their chest. Loud or unharmonious sounds irritate them. As a group, they are generally articulate, taking great pains to express themselves well. They understand the world around them by how things sound. As such, they take their time pronouncing each word. They have unmistakable resonance, a distinctive voice (as does James Earl Jones) and greater spacing between words which seem to hang in the air. They are masters of spacing and timing of words and their pauses let their words sink in. Their occupations include public speakers, radio announcers, singer and other musicians, lawyers and teachers. Their past-times include talking on the telephone, going to concerts, listening to lectures and playing musical instruments.

Kinesthetic

All washed up Come to grips with Emotional Get in touch with Hurt Lay your cards on the table Pressure Tension Unsettled

Bearable Calm, cool and collected Firm foundation Hang in there! Intuition Not following you Slipped my mind Too much hassle Wrong

These people make sense of their environment based on their feelings. They also understand what is being said by what they feel when you say it. Their decisions are based on whether they feel good. Depending on their gut reactions and intuition is important to them. These people are hard put to express their feelings in words. During this struggle to express themselves, there will be lots of deep sighs. There tends to be a long pause before they respond to what is asked or told to them. Their words seem to come up slowly from the region of their abdomen. They rely on metaphors that are physically anchored in the real world, i.e., bodily based sensations of feelings, emotions, smell and taste. Words alone are empty without the sincere feeling behind their expression to these people. Generally they follow occupations such as physical therapist, dentist, surgeon, masseur. In their spare time, they smoke, dance, drink, eat, scuba dive, run, walk and lie in the sun. Their speech patterns have a very slow tempo with very long pauses.

Visual

Angle Beyond a shadow of a doubt Demonstrate Gain a perspective Idea Looks like Perception Seem Up front

Appears to me Conspicuous Focus Hindsight Imagine Mental picture Pretty Under your nose Witness

The third cartoon/sample words is of the visually perceptive person. Typically these people speak rapidly as if trying to keep up with the pictures they see in their mind's eye. To them, it is not only what a person speaks, it is how they say it. Their tonal quality will tend to be on the higher pitched end and will have a nasal or somewhat strained quality to it. Their voice tends to come from their throat. Their tempo will be in quick bursts of words, sometimes not pausing until they need to take a breath. They are the fast talkers. The majority of people, at least in the United States, are visually oriented. Our culture also tends to make us more so, i.e., television and other mass media. Some typical examples of how they earn their living are painter, photographer, landscaper or interior designer, barber or beautician, makeup artist, editor, manuscript reader and similar visual type activities. They purchase their car, for example, by how it looks. Their hobbies are visual also. Some of their favorite pastimes are to read, watch television, go to the movies and collect things.

Permission to reprint cartoons granted by:

Metamorphous Press
P.O. Box 10616
Portland, OR 97296
(503-228-4972)

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