Every great corporate communicator is at heart a great translator. They can take ideas and concepts that work for one audience and explain them in a way that works for others who may have quite different needs.

In the book “Pitch Like a Girl,” author Ronna Lichtenberg explains this translation by discussing two distinct styles of communication – pink and blue.  Someone with a pink style in business puts initial emphasis on relationship and connection, wanting to know the other person, even a little bit, before getting down to task.  Someone with a blue style wants to get right down to business, and may be impatient with small talk.

For example, a “pink” will first mention the weather, your bull dog, your handbag, your shoes, your vacation – something, anything, before getting down to the business at hand.

Blues like to know where people stand, literally. Rank and order matter to blues. A blue wants to know right away how you fit into the grand scheme of things. Blues introduce themselves with titles and accomplishments.  

One style is not better than the other – they are just different. 

Read on as Ronna Lichtenberg, author and president of Clear Peak Communications, shares tips on how to recognize and appreciate pink and blue styles – and how that insight can make you a more effective communicator.

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May 2005 Edition

© 2004 Heyman Associates, Inc.