Assertiveness Training

Learning how to express yourself and defend your rights without infringing on the rights of others.

The goal of this training is to provide the necessary tools to handle workplace interactions calmly, both in substance and in form. It will teach you how to remain grounded when faced with an aggressive or passive interlocutor, and how to guide them toward a constructive exchange.

Beyond assertive posture, this training also teaches how to use assertiveness in negotiation contexts. It covers situation analysis, preparation of arguments, the different negotiator postures, and negotiation techniques.

  • Name:
    Assertiveness Training
  • Objectives:
    Define assertiveness, including its benefits and limitations.
    Adopt an assertive attitude in professional interactions.
    Use assertiveness in negotiation and in difficult situations.
  • Prerequisites:
    Facing aggressive or passive behaviors in professional relationships.
  • Duration:
    7 h
  • Price:
    €3000 excl. VAT
  • Audience:
    All employees
  • Participants:
    4 to 8 participants
  • Location:
    On-site or at our office on the Champs Élysées in Paris
  • Materials:
    Website with training materials and exercises
    PowerPoint visual support
    Printed exercise workbook
  • Evaluation:
    Continuous evaluation throughout the training
    Final practical exercise applying the acquired skills.

Detailed Program

Introduction

  • Trainer introduction
  • Participant introductions
  • Expectations
  • Training agenda

Assertiveness

  • What is assertiveness? Understanding exactly what the concept of assertiveness means.
  • The adult–child model: Why a constructive relationship necessarily relies on adult-to-adult interaction.
  • Defining your territory: Our territory consists of our rights and responsibilities. To be assertive, you must clearly understand your own territory.
  • Physical grounding: Being assertive means being able to stay grounded when facing aggressive or passive attitudes.
  • Mental grounding: Mental grounding is the second type of grounding required to be assertive.
  • External observer: It is difficult to take an objective view of our own behavior, especially under stress. A neutral external observer can help us remain assertive in difficult situations.
  • Managing destabilization techniques: Learning to recognize destabilization techniques and manage them effectively.

Negotiation

  • Negotiator postures: Negotiation is a high-stakes game. Each party plays a specific role, and—as in poker—the role displayed may only be a façade meant to influence the other side. Learning not to be misled by appearances is key to understanding true intentions. These roles are referred to as “postures.”
  • Listening and observation as the foundation of negotiation: Listening—and how you listen—is a negotiator’s greatest asset. Careful decoding of what the other party says can reveal elements they may wish to conceal.
  • Understanding blockages to remove them: Listening and observation help identify the other party’s blockages, enabling you either to resolve or deliberately refuse them.
  • Focusing on what you can control: In negotiation, getting angry or trying to change what you cannot control is useless. The most important thing is to focus on the concrete element that will move the situation forward.
  • Maintaining a global view: Stress creates tunnel vision, causing us to focus on a single perceived danger and overlook others. It is essential to maintain an overall view of the situation.
  • Searching for solutions: When a situation seems to be at an impasse, a solution-oriented approach makes it possible to explore new options based on how the situation evolves.