In most situations in life and especially in business, it is important to be assertive rather than aggressive or even passive when communicating with friends, family, acquaintances or colleagues.
If you are an assertive communicator this means you communicate clearly and concisely, you know how to express your ideas, feelings, needs and opinions without being too confrontational or aggressive.
Here are some useful phrases to use to become a more assertive communicator:
- Let’s stick to the agenda…
- Let me get straight to the point…
- My point is…
- The bottom line is…
- I would appreciate it if…
- I’m interested in…
- I’m curious about…
- We’re running behind schedule, let’s try to stay on track.
- We’re running late. Let’s a make a start and the latecomers can catch up when they arrive.
- We have a lot to cover/to get through…
- Let’s get started…
- I’d like…
- I feel…
- I would prefer…
- Would you please…?
- Would you mind…?
- I must insist that…
- I would prefer not to…
- The only sensible thing to do is to…
- You may not be aware of this, but…
- Excuse me, I’d like to…
- I believe the best policy is to…
- I believe the best way to move forward is to…
To be an assertive communicator you also should feel comfortable when asking for what you want:
- Would you please…?
- Would you mind…?
- Could you do me a favor?
- Could you lend me a hand?
- May I…?
- I’d appreciate it if…
- I would like to ask for…
- I would like to…is this possible?
- I would like to…would this be an issue?
