10 Ways to Be Assertive
Assertiveness is a wonderful quality to have, and as long as you know how to use it properly it can be help you be direct and clear in your communication with others. In order to be successful with communication, there are several guidelines we can all follow to ensure our point is being made in an assertive way. In this week’s edition of our ’10 Ways to’ series of parenting tips, we look at 10 keys to being assertive.
- Assertiveness is an approach that helps you to be direct, honest and respectful in expressing your feelings, wants, needs and opinions.
- You should always be respectful of others and yourself when being assertive.
- Being assertive should not mean being aggressive.
- Use clear and direct communication instead of unclear or indirect communication.
- Be more confident about how you say things and how you get your message across.
- Assertiveness will help your children learn how to be assertive and help a family to be positive and have shared values.
- Remember you are making requests not demands. Expect yes and no answers.
- Be ready to negotiate and compromise with others, including children.
- Be very specific with children in particular about what you need them to do. ‘I need you to tidy your room’ is too vague. Indicate certain areas of the room: ‘I need you to tidy your dolls today’ and explain what that should look like.
- Learn to say no and explain why it is a ‘No.’ The ‘No’ is about you safeguarding yourself as opposed to blocking another person: ‘No, you cannot walk alone to the shops, I need you to be safe and I need to hold your hand to ensure this.’
This week’s ’10 Ways to …’ is compiled by One Family’s Director of Children and Parenting Services, Geraldine Kelly.
Coming soon: 10 Tips for Respecting Difference; 10 Tips on Preparing Your Child for Preschool; 10 Tips on Improving Your Child’s Self Esteem
For support and advice on any of these topics, call askonefamily on lo-call 1890 66 22 12 or emailsupport@onefamily.ie.
Picture credit: Pixabay
