Assertiveness: standing up for yourself course

Do you want to stand up for yourself without steamrolling others? In this course you work on acting with self-assurance, setting boundaries and communicating purposefully. You learn to express your opinion clearly and to present yourself decisively, with mutual respect as the basis.

Description

Assertiveness is about standing up for your own interests without trampling on the interests of others. When you respond assertively, you increase the chance of achieving your goals and you build relationships based on mutual respect.

In this course you work on presenting yourself more confidently and on the way you profile yourself. You gain insight into the difference between assertive, sub-assertive and aggressive behaviour, and you discover how communication and frames of reference influence other people's behaviour. You consider how verbal and non-verbal behaviour works, and you practise saying no, setting boundaries and making your opinion clear.

You also pay attention to giving and receiving feedback, communicating purposefully without manipulating, and recognising limiting thoughts and emotions that hold you back from standing up for yourself. By doing and experiencing in a safe training environment, you translate the theory straight into your own practice.

Topics

During this course you will cover topics including:

• What is and what is not assertiveness? You learn the difference between assertive, sub-assertive and aggressive behaviour.
• Communication and frames of reference: sending, receiving and interpreting. It is not what you do, but how the other person interprets it that determines his or her reaction.
• Non-verbal and verbal behaviour: you are always communicating, and above all without words.
• Saying no and setting boundaries: how do you make your boundaries clear and explain your expectations?
• Giving and receiving feedback: you will work with the rules of feedback and learn to put your feelings into words.
• Communicating purposefully: how do you influence someone without manipulating them?
• Dealing with limiting thoughts and emotions: what is holding you back from standing up for your own interests?

Result

After this course you are aware of your own strengths and pitfalls, and you know what effect they have on others. You have a clear sense of where your boundaries lie and you dare to state them.

You use the right communication techniques to make your interests known and achieve your goals. You also know how to present yourself decisively, while maintaining mutual respect.

Target audience

This course is suitable for anyone who wants to come across more assertively. Do you recognise yourself in one or more of the points below?

I find it difficult to achieve my goals at the right moments, I want to stand up better for my own interests, I want to take the initiative, be clear about what I want and profile myself well, I want to ask for attention in conversations and make my opinion clear.

This list is of course not exhaustive: everyone is different. What would you like to focus on within the theme of assertiveness?

Teaching method

You work in a small group of no more than eight participants, led by an experienced trainer. Beforehand you have an intake meeting, so that the programme matches your personal learning objectives.

During the course the emphasis is on doing and experiencing. You practise with real-life situations, experiment with new behaviour and receive immediate feedback. The atmosphere is safe and open, so you feel free to try out new skills.

We alternate theory with exercises, role-plays and reflection. This way you translate what you have learned directly into your own working and living situation.

Prior knowledge

You do not need any specific prior knowledge for this course. It does help if you are open to looking at your own behaviour and willing to practise new communication skills. Your own experiences and situations form the starting point.

Comments

This course is suitable for anyone who wants to learn to respond more assertively in work or private situations. Thanks to its personal character and the small group of no more than eight participants, you have plenty of room to work on your own learning objectives.

In-company

Would you like to organise this training for a whole group or several groups? This can be cost-effective. For example, we can tailor the content entirely to your organisation, and training a whole group is also cheaper.

Are you looking at large numbers of participants or a complete academy? That involves a great deal. Consider planning and communication, for example, or identifying and agreeing the objectives and content of the training. Or differences in level, feedback mechanisms and safeguarding. Fortunately, Learnit has extensive experience in this field (more than 25 years) and we are happy to help you through this process.

Request a quote

Language

The training is given in Dutch as standard. The trainer has a good command of English. English-language course material can be used. With a minimum enrolment of 3 participants, the training can also be given entirely in English.