Influence Communication – GreenBlueRed? Part1.

How might we influence through communication without dominating or manipulating?

Whether you sit at a table to discuss business, play cards with friends, or enjoy some pillow talk with your partner, you need to communicate. Whether you realise it or not, every time you communicate you are influencing others. You do this “naturally”, most of the time without really thinking about it. One could even say that we communicate automatically. Being on auto-pilot is fine - some of the time - but adding strategy and tactical skills into the mix can really make a difference to the experience and the outcome of your conversation. 

GreenBlueRed? is a behavioural model - not a personality model. It is a new influential communication framework that anyone can learn to understand and use to have meaningful and conscious conversations. With GreenBlueRed? you know how to recognise and choose the right focus, order and proportion for each type of conversation regardless of the situation. You will be able to analyse and consciously choose your behaviour in your communication situations.

In this series of blogs you learn about GreenBlueRed Conscious Communication:

1. Recognise and Separate the colours 
2. Choosing the right order of the colours
3. Using the right proportion of the colours

In this particular post, we will be focusing on recognising and separating the 3 colours.

Step #1 Recognise and Separate the colours

All communication can be colour-coded. GreenBlueRed uses an “anchor” as a point of focus within an interaction to colour code. This anchor can be found in ourselves, in others, or in the actions being performed. 

What is Green?

Green communication focuses on the other person. It’s like putting the spotlight on them, their feelings, hopes, or thoughts. It is connected to #RadicalEmpathy, where you actively attempt to understand another person’s perspective, their point of view and emotions. In essence, you will try as much as possible to empathise with their reality. Your focus will be on understanding and building trust. 

TIP: To be green you need to tap into #curiosity #respect #kindness and #connection

Examples of Green Verbal sentences:

• “Lisa, you managed to point out the right benefits for this client.”  #positivephrases
• “Why is that so important to you?” #greenquestion  
• “In your opinion, it would be better to…” #mirroring
• “It sounds like you don’t like…”  #labelling

What is Blue?

If with Green you aim to understand others, here you try to be understood yourself. Blue communication is focusing on “me, myself & I”.  Use Blue to communicate those things which belong to you, such as your knowledge, opinions, ideas, or feelings. It is connected to tangible #storytelling, where you try to get your message across the 5 barriers of communication (consciousness barrier, permission barrier, sensorial barrier, language barrier and tangibility barrier). We will be covering these barriers in the following posts. If you cannot wait to get started with conscious communication, we have a Free Learning App where you will find Conscious Communication basics in over 8 videos and 4 tests. 

TIP: To talk blue tap into #learning #ego #responsibilities and #philautia. 

Examples of Blue Verbal sentences:

• “I am sorry.” #apologising
• “I would like to have…” #informing
• “This is excellent!” #judging
• “Do you agree with me?” #bluequestion

What is Red?

Red communication focuses on common action, often in the form of suggestions, decisions or agreements. Ideally, it’s connected to #collectiveintelligence and #influence. If you tend to be an action-oriented person, you might be too red for others. Red can be often misunderstood as aggressive or insistent. In the right amounts, Red can really help you tap into #collectiveIntelligence and #cocreation by allowing groups of people to go from having great ideas to actually manifesting them in the physical world.

TIP: To be consciously red tap into #fixingproblems #buildingtrust and being in the #sameteam.

Examples of Red Verbal sentences:

• “Stop!” #order
• “Perhaps taking a day off might make you feel better.”“ #advising
• “Why don’t you go and tidy your room?” #redquestion
• You should try this new tool.”  #suggesting

Separate the colours

Recognising the differences between the three colours allows you to communicate clearly and reduce misunderstandings and conflicts. The best influencers use these colours consciously and try not to mix them together. If you are sending mixed messages, others will get confused, misunderstand your message, make wrong assumptions or just disconnect from what you might be trying to communicate with the best of #intentions. 

 Stay tuned because in the next blog we go through the right order for these colours and see what might happen if the order is not optimal.

Posted by

Anu Timmerbacka

The Coach

A powerfully driven event designer and communication coach – not to mention our CEO – Anu keeps us on track with femininity, strength and determination.