Do you find that you are fine in most situations but there are always those tricky ones where you walk away thinking 'why was I not more assertive there?' or 'why did I say yes again?' You can enhance your performance in professional and personal life with effective assertiveness skills.
5 tips to be more assertive
1 Planning - often we can feel that we don't have space to respond as we would like to and we launch straight in, doing a bit of planning beforehand can make the world of difference to the result. Think about what your goal is, what do you want to get out of the communication? What is negotiable? What are you willing to compromise on?
2 Emotions - there is no point in going into a discussion about what you want or would like from a situation if you are really experiencing a high level of emotional arousal. So in order to use a skillful approach get those emotions in check first.
3 What are your rights and responsibilities? You have the right to have your say and express what you feel and think which includes saying no! but with that comes responsiblity to respect the other person also has the same rights. So you can say what you want, think and feel but so can the other person.
4 Check your voice tone and body language - are you coming across calm, is your voice tone a good level and are you giving the other person enough space?
5 It helps to start off with outlining what is going on so the other person is clear without making it personal. Then say what you would like to happen or how you feel in the situation. You can also follow up with what would be good about that - focus on positive outcomes for both parties.
I offer a workshop and coaching in assertiveness skills which uses a 3 step approach which provides a really helpful simple framework.
If you are interested in finding out more book on a workshop or contact me for 1:1 coaching. I can also come into your workplace and work with teams/individuals. I always look forward to receiving feedback and having a chat about your requirements so feel free to contact me on 07811 740580 or drop me an email!
