The Matrix of Communication Styles
Understanding your style of
communicating would be relatively easy if you limited yourself to one of the four basic styles.
However, depending on the situation, you may alternate between one, two, or even three styles.
It’s like walking. You naturally walk at a certain pace. But then you shift gears to match the pace
of someone next to you.
It’s the same with communicating. People prefer to use one style. Our “primary style” is the one
we’re most comfortable with. But we also have a backup style. Typically, this second style is
dictated by our situation — the demands of our particular job if at work, the demands of
domestic life if at home.
We refer to the backup style as our “secondary style.” Most people vacillate frequently between
their primary and secondary styles. As a result, our overall or specific style becomes a
combination of these two styles. It’s like mixing lemon into tea: The concoction has a flavor all
its own.
In this lesson you will learn about your unique flavor. For example, if the Survey revealed your
primary style to be Director and your secondary style to be Harmonizer, then this creates an
identifiable pattern of communicating called the Persuader. This style is highlighted below.
Once you instill in your mind a mental image of the Matrix, you can use it to identify another
person’s communication style, even if he or she hasn’t taken the survey. (Identifying another
person’s style is covered in detail in Lesson 4.)
How the Matrix of Communication Styles Works
If you split the Matrix into equal quarters, or quadrants, then each quadrant illustrates a
primary style—Director, Expresser, Thinker, or Harmonizer.
Each quadrant contains four more squares. Your secondary style determines your particular
square within each quadrant.
Here’s how it works, using the Organizer as an example:
Step 1: Your primary style governs your
placement in one of the four quadrants of the Matrix.
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Directors are in the upper left of the Matrix.
Expressers are in the upper right.
Thinkers are in the lower left.
Harmonizers are in the lower right.
Since the Organizer’s primary style is Thinker, he’s in the lower-left quadrant.
Step 2: Once you’ve located your quadrant, cover up the other three. Pretend they don’t exist. In
this case, you’d cover up the top half of the Matrix and the lower-right quadrant. The only
quadrant visible would be the Thinker.
Step 3: The Thinker quadrant is divided into four
smaller squares. Each has a label, like Investigator or Supporter. Use the same rule of thumb as
the first step. If your secondary style is Director, then the upper-left square is your square
(Investigator): if your secondary style is Expresser, then the upper-right square (Organizer)
represents you.; if your secondary is also Thinker, then the lower-left square is yours (Analyzer);
and if your secondary style is Harmonizer, then the lower-right square is yours (Supporter). In
this case, the secondary style is Expresser, which makes this person an Organizer.
Download the PDF – “The Sixteen Specific Communication Styles”
Filters and Frames
The Matrix is a very helpful tool because it lets you see the relationship between all sixteen
styles at a glance. You can see how the styles at the top of the Matrix are the most assertive,
while those at the bottom are the least so. How those on the left side are most analytical, while
those on the right are the most intuitive. Take the survey!
Corner Styles
Some people—approximately one in a hundred—are so-called “corner styles.” The four corner
styles are Director, Entertainer, Analyzer, and Pleaser. Corner styles occur when a person’s score
for one basic communication style is ten points higher than the score for any of the others.
Corner styles have particular challenges to face in developing their communication skills.
Because they don’t regularly use a secondary, backup style, their communications tend to be less
adaptable and flexible. These challenges are discussed under the description for each corner style
in The Sixteen Communication Styles (PDF).
Blended Styles
Some people truly have two styles and occupy two places on the Matrix. We call these people
“blended styles.” A blended style occurs when a person’s high score is identical for two of the
basic communication styles. For example, a person who scores 35 for both Thinker and Director
would be a blend of Investigator and Explorer.
If you have a blended style, don’t worry. It’s a perfectly natural out-growth of the way the survey
is constructed. Taking the survey again might slightly alter your score, and thus give you a neater
fit within a particular square on the Matrix. But your score the first time you take the survey is
typically the truest reflection of your style. And a person who has a blended style can get just as
much out of Straight Talk as someone who occupies single square on the Matrix.
After you read the descriptions of each specific style, it may be readily evident which specific
style is yours. If so, adopt it as your own. But if you are still wavering between two styles, accept
your fate. The purpose of the Matrix is to help you improve your communications, not to
shoehorn you into a particular category or give you a label.
Conclusion
As you begin to familiarize yourself with each style, certain themes begin to emerge about what
constitutes a competent communicator. The importance of asking good questions. The need to
assert one’s own beliefs and feelings clearly and honestly. The importance of getting all the facts
before you draw conclusions. The need to distinguish between asking pertinent questions and
conducting a self-serving interrogation. The value of active listening — paraphrasing what
another person says to confirm your understand of the situation.
Once you start to appreciate the full spectrum of styles, you can also begin fitting your
colleagues and friends into the Matrix. You can start to appreciate the dynamic shifts between
communication styles. You can see how those styles at the top of the Matrix are the most
assertive, while those at the bottom are the least assertive. How those on the left side are the most
analytical, while those on the right are the most free flowing.
Lesson 5: The Four Communication Styles
IMPROVING YOUR COMMUNICATION WITH STRAIGHT TALK®
TEN TIPS FOR IMPROVING COMMUNICATION
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CATEGORIES COMMUNICATION STYLES
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Lesson 7: The Four
Author
Eric Douglas
Eric Douglas is the senior partner and founder of Leading Resources Inc., a consulting firm that focuses on
developing high-performing organizations. His first book, Straight Talk® teaches you how to identify your
own communication style and that of others, and how to modify your style for strategic results. Using
exercises, surveys, and real-life case studies, Straight Talk® helps solve today's most urgent organizational
dilemmas.
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LESSONS
1: What is Straight Talk?
2: Competent Communication
3: First Steps to Effective Communication
4: How to Identify Communication Styles
5: The Four Communication Styles
6: The Matrix of Communication Styles
7: The Four Types of Intent
8: Four Authentic Communication Skills
9: How to Modify Your Communication Style
10: Five Trends in Workplace Communication
11: Communication Styles in Business
12: The Role of Attention
13: The Circle of Assumptions
14: How Each Style Manages Conflict
15: The Habits of Highly Effective Facilitators
16: Managing Meetings
17: Inner Scripts
18: Setting Ground Rules
19: When Ground Rules Aren’t Enough
20: Understanding Organizational Cultures
21: Communication Styles at Work in Others
22: Using Straight Talk® to Balance Your “AQ” and “EQ”
23: Zeroing In On Your Own Communication Style
24: It All Starts With Communication Styles
25: The Language of Each Communication Style
26: 10 Straight Talk Graphics About Communication Styles
27: The Four Powers of Communication
28: The Tools of Productive Communication
29: Motivating Different Styles
30: The Eleven Ground Rules
31: Resolving Conflicts with Straight Talk
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