Style, Communicator

Communicator style refers to an individual's use of verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors that signals the extent to which a message should be interpreted seriously or lightly, taken literally or figuratively, viewed as entertaining or enlightening, or considered to be confirming or disconfirming. Heavily influenced by theoretical work completed in the fields of interpersonal communication and psychology, Robert Norton proposed that communicator style focuses on the relational component of a message by centering on how an individual communicates any given message rather than what an individual communicates in the message.

Considered to be a pervasive form of self-presentation, communicator style is comprised of 10 dependent attributes and one independent attribute that are manifested through verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors. Selecting from among these 11 attributes, individuals intentionally develop an observable communicator style that guides their behavior within and across communication contexts. This communicator style, which represents a cluster of several predominant attributes, becomes associated with an individual and provides a form through which message content not only is interpreted, but also establishes boundaries for how message content should not be interpreted. As such, it is impossible for individuals to not possess a unique and personable yet habitual style of communicating that creates expectations for how they will communicate in any given context as well as expectations for how other individuals will respond characteristically to a message sent by these individuals.

The 10 dependent attributes are dominant, dramatic, contentious, animated, impression leaving, relaxed, attentive, open, friendly, and precise; the one independent attribute is communicator image. Although each attribute is readily identifiable by a set of verbal and nonverbal behaviors, it is important to consider that the same behaviors (e.g., speaking loudly and excitedly, gesturing wildly) can exemplify more than one attribute (e.g., both dominant and animated). Dominant communicators take charge of a situation by talking louder, longer, and more frequently than others. Dramatic communicators use picturesque language and stylistic devices (e.g., exaggerations, voice, rhythm, stories) [Page 941]to underscore content. Contentious individuals disagree with others and may get somewhat confrontational, hostile, quarrelsome, or belligerent. Animated communicators use eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, body movements, and posture to exaggerate content. Impression-leaving communicators have a memorable style that makes an impact on their relational partners. Relaxed communicators are poised, anxiety-free, and remain calm and at ease when engaged in interactions with others. Attentive communicators express an interest in listening to others. They offer feedback, encouragement, and empathy. Open communicators are extroverted, unreserved, and straightforward. They do not have problems directly communicating their feelings, beliefs, thoughts, or emotions. Friendly people recognize others in a positive way and generally are considered to be kind and caring. Precise communicators try to be strictly accurate, using well-defined arguments and specific proof or evidence to clarify their positions. Communicator image refers to the assessment individuals make of their own communicative ability in comparison to the communicative abilities of others.

Even though these attributes can be used successfully across a variety of communication contexts, the attributes can be combined in any manner, suggesting that some combinations or clusters of attributes are more desirable or are more effective than other combinations or clusters in a particular communication context, with particular people, or across time. Moreover, different communicator styles are associated with different relational goals, which suggest that some communicator styles will be more successful than other styles in any particular context. One context in which this is evident and which has received a great deal of attention from communication researchers is the college classroom. For example, researchers have found that college students prefer instructors who communicate in a relational manner (i.e., the open, attentive, friendly, and relaxed attributes) over instructors who communicate in an authoritative manner (i.e., the dominant, contentious, and precise attributes); better instructors are rated as being more dramatic, relaxed, open, impression leaving, and friendly than worse instructors; and students report greater amounts of affective, behavioral, and cognitive learning when their instructors are friendly, relaxed, and impression leaving.

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