Reactions to Assertive Communication

Video Transcript

"Ok, the time has come. We are ready to try out our skills in our situation. All you have to do is remember everything I've told you so far and take small steps. Pick only one person and one situation at one time to try your assertiveness out on. You're going to start with your supervisor at work. You're going to pick one particular situation. You're going to try it out. We've already talked about if you fail, that's OK because it's a learning process. The thing I have to tell you at this point, when you go in to do the real deal people do not like change. And especially if you've been the doormat rather than the aggressive person, if all of a sudden you're standing up for yourself, people don't quite know how to react to that. If your supervisor has always been able to order you around and said and done whatever they felt like doing, and all of a sudden you stop taking it, the dynamics of the relationship will change dramatically. So I just want to warn you that when you go into the actual situation, interesting behavior could start to develop. That doesn't mean that you should not be assertive. Just be aware that you might not get the response that you think you're going to get."