I'm a Magistrate

I want to think that I'm a nice person. I have been told that a lot of times. But of course, for those who think otherwise, well... I cannot please everybody. But I don't take it against them. I actually respect their views.

You see, friends and enemies (or at least people who see me as an enemy) have proven that I'm a girl you may hate to love or love to hate. I'm possibly just misunderstood, but I have become used to people reacting differently towards me.

I couldn't understand why people tend to strongly react to my personality before, until a burst of clarity came to me after a quick communication style test during one of my Public Relations classes. Like always, I remember not going through the assigned readings that day, but of all the topics discussed, this is possibly the only thing that got stuck in my brain when I try to remember my PR classes. That... and that our professor worked for San Miguel.

I am a Magistrate.

"A Magistrate?" you may ask. Well, according to Linda McCallister, there are six styles of communication divided into three categories namely, the dominant styles (The Noble, The Socratic and The Reflective), the blended styles (The Magistrate, The Candidate) and the dual style (The Senator). As much as I would want everybody to find out their communication style, this is a 20-something-page reading material which I am not planning to transcribe. So just for everybody to have an understanding of why you love (or hate) me so much, here's an excerpt from McCallister's book I Wish I'd Said That! How toTalk Your Way Out of Trouble and into Success.

The Magistrate: Geraldo, Dixie, and Muhammad Ali

People tend to have intense reactions to the Magistrate. There doesn't appear to be any middle ground for this Noble-Socratic blended communicator. If the Noble or the Socratic can make an impression on you as a communicator, then the Magistrate can be twice as impressive. If the Noble or the Socratic can anger you with his or her style of communication, then the Magistrate can make you twice as angry. The Magistrate is a very strong communicator - in both positive and negative terms. The other person either really loves or really hates this style.

Geraldo Rivera, Larry King, and Muhammad Ali display the Magistrate style of communication. Think about these fellows. They are not "take 'em or leave 'em" type of people. These Magistrates evoke intense reactions from others. They are not Noble, and they are not Socratic. They are Noble and Socratic at the same time. This creates a style that is very different from dominant-style communicators.

Magistrates speak with an air of superiority. They feel they are right, there is usually little room for opposing views, and they definitely feel the need to expose the other person's shortcomings. Listen for the air of superiority and to Victor's direct, blunt, detailed, and verbose Magistrate sound as he tells Fred he made an error:

"That wasn't the smartest move you've ever made Fred. You know we aren't running a clarity here. You have to undertand that when you agree to change an order, there are a lot of ramifications. I know you don't want to alienate the customer, but the customer isn't always right. They don't always know what's best for them. I personally believe you could have convinced him to keep the order the way it was. I know you could have. I've had a lot of experience, you know. Maybe you can watch the way I handle things the next time. You know, its not really all that difficult. You have to be a bit of an actor, a bit of a teacher, and a bit of a comedian. You start by letting them think you agree, but then you begin to give them pieces of information and statistics that show your way would be more beneficial. You add a couple of humorous anecdotes when you see them softening, and if that doesn't work, you get a little tough. Let me tell you about how I handled the Barron account last month. Barron is a tough cookie, but I managed to swing him over. I started by... etc, etc, etc..."

The Magistrate blends together verbal characteristics that at first glance appear incompatible. For example, the Magistrate is both verbose and straightforward. Magistrates tell you exactly what they think -- and in great detail. Dixie Carter, who plays Julia Sugarbaker on "Designing Women," generates a lot of laughter with this technique. Julia has intense feelings on all topics, and she delivers her diatribes as if she were on a podium surrounded by multitudes of followers. Her oration is typically followed by dead silence or a thunderous ovation from the audience.

Magistrates tend to sound self-righteous, but their harangues can be humorous. They tend to speak as if they were writing one long paragraph, and they jump from one idea to the next without a pause or creating a new paragraph. They tend to use a colorful and somewhat exaggerated description of events, and they speak with enthusiasm *some-text-missing-because-photocopying-machine-is-crappy*, and a bit of braggadocio.

Magistrates don't come to for once they start a thought, they don't give you a chance to interject your thoughts. They are totally comfortable with dominating the conversation and in an argument speak louder, talk over the other person and do not hesistate to insult the opponent verbally.

The Magistrate is the most powerful of all communicators. Not better or worse -- just powerful. This is because the Magistrate draws upon and actively uses a much larger set of characteristics than does a dominant-style communicator. As you will see in the following chapters, Nobles and Socratics each thirty or so identifiable communication characteristics they tend to rely upon, but the Magistrate has more than sixty from which to choose. This is both a blessing and a curse for the Magistrate because this profile has double the strengths and double the problems. Thus, when Magistrates are communicating well, they are doing it very well, and when they are communicating badly, they are doing it badly.

If you have ever said, "That is the most dynamic speaker I have ever heard," you were probably listening to a Magistrate. Similarly, if you heard yourself saying, "That is the most obnoxious person I have ever spoken with," you were probably speaking with a Magistrate. They are intense communicators who tell exactly how they feel, and they tell you in great detail. They are tottaly committed to winning arguments and tend not to give up. They can be eloquent, and they can be overbearing. They are the best and the worst of two worlds.

NOTE: As far as I can remember, I was the only Magistrate in class. Most of them were Nobles and Socratics, a few Reflectives and I think two Candidates. The professor was a Senator.