A Guide To Understanding The Communication Talent Theme
You may either have the Communication talent theme, or you know someone with the talent theme of Communication.
As the Gallup Organization defines it, people exceptionally talented in the Communication theme find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.
The Power of Communication
For people with the Communication talent theme, they connect with others through words. They are verbally expressive and are usually great storytellers as they bring ideas and events vividly to life.
They way they think and learn best is when they can talk with others, whether by explaining, describing, hosting, presenting or even writing. They want their information to capture the audience. This drives them to use perfect phrases or dramatic and powerful statements as much as possible.
People enjoy listening to them for many reasons. Their words can paint interesting pictures, provide clarity, and inspire others to act too.
People with the Communication talent theme have the innate ability to bring ideas and events vividly to life with their words.
They are able to bring attention and focus to important messages. They can easily and naturally find words not only for their own thoughts and feelings, but for those of others too. This gives them the ability to reach out and connect with others in meaningful ways.
Communication Talent Theme Loves
People with the Communication talent theme love collecting stories, telling stories and storytellers. They love big words and phrases and it empowers them when they use it.
They love turning events into stories, and they bring life to ideas and enliven them with images and metaphors. They feel a need to energize them and make them exciting and vivid.
Needless to say, they love it when people are captivated by their stories.
They know that most people have a very short attention span and are bombarded by information every day, with very little of it surviving. They want THEIR information – whether an idea, an event, a discovery or a lesson – to survive.
They love diverting the attention towards themselves, capturing it and locking it in. And to do this, they hunt for the perfect phrase, use dramatic words and powerful word combinations.
Communication Talent Theme Hates
It goes without saying that people with the Communication talent theme hate experience without expression. They are naturally verbally expressive themselves. And they hate it when people shut down their expressions.
They dislike dry ideas. They dislike it when events are static. They need to breathe life into them with their colourful words and expressions. They hate it when a story needs to be told, but people are focused only on data instead.
They hate it when they lack attention from others, and they hate not being able to voice their thoughts. Being solitary is the worst for them as they are unable to interact with others verbally.
They hate being misunderstood when they convey a message too. At the core, they must be understood, and they want you to be heard and understood too.
Communication Talent Theme Basement Behaviours
When people with the Communication talent theme push their talent too hard, the experience for others can be unpleasant.
Here are 3 negative behaviours of the Communication talent theme:
1. Talkative
It’s a given that people with the Communication talent theme will be seen as talkative.
They think through talking. They sort out their thoughts through talking. They connect with others through words. Talking gives them clarity in the work that they do.
It’s no wonder that they’ll be misunderstood as being talkative.
This happens when the Communication talent theme is uncontrolled. They might seem to always have something to say even when it is not necessary.
They might also come off as being outer-directed due to their need to be the one communicating.
2. Poor Listener
As people with the Communication talent theme express themselves through talking, in the basement form, they might come off as poor listeners.
This happens as they forget to let other people tell their story while their too busy telling their own.
They may neglect listening or observing their audience as they focus on capturing people’s attention, missing the cues to listen instead of talk.
At the same time, they may come off as impatient with those who need time to think, as they fill the silence with their own words instead of letting others process their own thoughts.
This may cause them to seem self-absorbed as well, as they seem more interested in hearing themselves and less interested in hearing others.
3. Attention seeker
People with the Communication talent theme may come off as attention seeking as they need someone else to sound off their thoughts with.
They cannot be left in solitary and this may cause them to seem like they seek and need attention all the time.
People with the Communication talent theme can’t help but to express themselves, be it through talking, writing or even their dressing.
They want to express themselves and for that, they need an audience. This could often be mistaken as their need to seek attention all the time.
Communication Talent Theme Best Contributions
People with the Communication talent theme are naturally able to help others express themselves.
They connect with others through words. They have the ability to help others turn their thoughts into words, or help them put their point across in a captivating way.
The Communication talent theme brings attention to messages that must be heard. As good conversationalists and presenters, people naturally like to listen to them.
They are able to express and re-express important messages, until they feel that the message is understood. This is especially important in meetings or when making work decisions.
They provide a sounding board for people when ideas need to be bounced, and they will help you make meaning or memorable explanations through words or stories.
StrengthsAsia has helped many individual and corporate clients all throughout the region in identifying and maximizing their talents, in driving engagement and increasing motivation in their work and life.
If you want to learn more about the 34 talent themes or discover how you can apply your talent themes in the areas of your work and your life, feel free to reach out to us here.
Aly is StrengthsAsia’s marketing and communications guru and lead editor. She's over the top inquisitive and everyone in the company knows her as “The Googler” as she practically googles everything. Honestly, we all worry for her… She is also the Principal Trainer for our one of a kind ice cream team building workshops in Asia.