Thank you for your interest in the Conversation Style Guide (CSG). The survey should take you about 10-15 minutes to complete. After you submit your responses, you will receive a customized report on your personal conversational style, its strengths and limitations.
Caveat: Some people love this kind of survey; some don't. If you have taken and appreciated other temperament or personality assessments (such as Meyers Briggs Type Indicator or the Enneagram), you will hopefully enjoy and learn from this one also. If you have taken and felt frustrated by other such indicators, you may feel frustrated when completing this assessment. Breathe deep, relax and don't worry too much about any one answer. If you're unsure, or the question seems ambiguous, submit your first inclination and move on. Interpersonal communication is a complex, often ambiguous topic.
Purpose of the Conversational Style Guide (CSG):
We each have a basic style of talking and listening. It's part of who we are, like your name or how you dress. Your "conversation style" is a collection of attitudes, habits, skills and preferences for relating to others in a way that is most natural and comfortable for you. The Conversation Style Guide is designed to help you understand your fundamental conversation style, your "default" mode, how you talk, listen, and relate.
Your style is one primary influence on how you converse. A second significant influence is the unique circumstance of any interaction - whom you are talking with, the roles and relationships involved, the topic, your mood, the setting, time available etc.
In any given conversation, the unique circumstances of the moment plus your default "conversation style" merge to determine how you will conduct yourself. Much of this happens subconsciously. The purpose of this assessment tool is to make your conversation more conscious by giving you insights into your unique style. As you become more aware of your default style, you can choose consciously to further develop and rely on that style, or you can explore ways to migrate to, or include aspects of, other styles. With increased awareness, you will make better, more conscious choices, thus becoming a more mindful, more skilled and more successful conversationalist.
Format
The questions in the CSG are divided into four sections:
1. One-on-one conversations
2. Group conversations
3. General Communication
4. Closing
Scope
For the purposes of this survey please consider ONLY conversations that are:
Real-Time (i.e. not using text messaging, email or other asynchronous means of communication). You may consider conversations that are not face-to-face but use technology, such as phone, video, real-tme connecting via computer apps etc.
Adult-to-adult
Examples would include dinner with a friend, problem-solving with colleagues at work, a neighborhood party, meeting with your boss, a family reunion, waiting in line at the grocery store etc. Conversations with young children often follow very different patterns, so do not consider these.
Your Approach to Answering
Don't overthink your answers. Usually, the first answer that feels right represents your most basic tendency. There are also spaces where you can write in any additional thoughts you wish. Please do so at will.