On a daily basis, I often face numerous personalities and impressions. However, before I get into that, let me slowly rewind a tad. If there was one important concept that I learned from the Toastmasters, it would be to “be your audience.” Although such a concept is distinctly different (the silence of it all) from team or group member associations, I believe that the underlying target of modifying personal communication techniques based on contrasting styles can similarly use the same foundation, which of course would be, to “be” a team or group member. Hmmm…What do I mean by this?

Okay, so back to facing numerous personalities and impressions. While many individuals may have dominant communication styles, whether they be passive, assertive, or even aggressive, the persona of an individual (speaking for myself in this case) can be influenced by an external factor, thus causing the innermost style to take a turn. Many of us, within a personal aspect, don’t require extensive lessons in understanding different behavioral traits of others in order to presume or perceive a clear impression, and especially, to communicate with different characters. But, (yes there’s a but) then again, in the world of organizational behavior and business, one must fully understand the complexities of various communication styles, and how to modify our dominant traits to blend with those styles, in order to reach a common goal.

Throughout the day, I’m one with many masks, and repeatedly find myself putting on several different faces (knowingly, and I don’t have Dissociative Identity Disorder) to communicate with different personalities. Frequently, in the past several weeks, I’ve had to modify my style to respond to hostility and aggressiveness, and take an active listener approach to different dilemmas (some customers do complain about every little thing). And equally, I would find a cue to take a passive approach, in order to remedy the situation. Nevertheless, it all boils down to one important detail, and that is, again, “to be your audience.”

To quote the famous William Shakespeare, “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?”