What is Assertiveness?

Questionnaire: Rent, Buy or one of 6 other options

How To Be More Assertive: Part 1

Here are some definitions of "to assert", drawn from different sources:

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

To vindicate or defend by argument or measures; to declare strongly; to lay claim to; to insist upon; to affirm; to bear evidence of.

Dictionary.com

To state or express positively; to defend or maintain (one's rights, for example).

Game theory

A Win-win; you and the other person both get what you want.

The Assertiveness Pocketbook

Enjoying your rights, expressing your feelings, asking for what you want, stating your views - with integrity, honesty, directness, respect for others.

There are many different views on what assertiveness is. But what matters for this course is the definition that is relevant to you and your circumstances.

Questions

NB: print this page and complete the follow questions in order (the same question is deliberately repeated as this is an iterative process):

1. What do you want to be able to do after this workshop that you could not do before?

2. What would the above behaviour (your answer to question 1) give you that you that you didn't have before?

3. And what would that (your answer to question 2) give you that you didn't have before?

4. And what would that (your answer to question 3) give you that you didn't have before?

5. And what would that (your answer to question 4) give you that you didn't have before?

6. This next question is a bit harder, and you will probably need to keep thinking about it long after you have completed this course: what is the best way for you to get the above (ie your answer to question 5).

7. Finally, why is it so difficult to say "No"?

How To Be More Assertive: Part 2: Four Styles