ISFP Communication Skills

Feelings and impressions are what ISFPs live by, and what fills their lives. Their world is full of feelings.

ISFPs take the pains and concerns of other people as their own. During communication, their attention is directed toward all the different shades of emotions. ISFPs are ready to provide emotional support and help to their conversation party. They are especially good at creating a climate of good-natured communication among those participating in the conversation.

Topics that heavily rely on theoretical and logical reasoning, such as very scientific and technical ones do not particularly pique the interest of ISFPs.

At times, ISFPs can appear somewhat detached from active communication. As a rule, those are the times they are immersed in their own emotional experience.

ISFPs can have a fairly broad circle of acquaintances and friends and many seek out company of ISFPs in order to share their feelings and experiences or to just have a chat to lighten their spirits.

Business communication with ISFPs is, as a rule related to participating in finding solutions to practical, ongoing problems that often have to do with sales, office or creative design activities. They often are able to solve practical problems where it is important to establish trusting and warm relationships.

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ISFP: Strategies for Successful Communication

Communication between ISFPs and people with the same mindset, or to put it differently, with sensory/feeling personality types including ESFJ, ISFJ, ESFP, and ISFP comes at ease. People in this group have roughly the same way of sensing the world as this type, and therefore it is easy for ISFPs to share their feelings and empathize with other SFs, and relate to their views.

Communication between ISFPs and sensory/thinking (ST) personality types, including ESTJ, ISTJ, ESTP, and ISTP should be different. When communicating with ST people it is best for an ISFP to mostly keep to communication based upon concrete topics, facts and logical conclusions. This type of communication may be perceived by ISFPs as dry, but is most effective when it comes to communicating with ST people as it is best suited to their way of thinking and is easy for them to understand.

When communicating with intuitive/feeling (NF) personality types including ENFJ, INFJ, ENFP, and INFP, ISFPs should keep to a conversation style that can be understood by both parties, i.e. based on feelings (F). Nonetheless, the sides may sometimes find it hard to maintain a fruitful discussion, due to the fact that conversations with the NFs may involve abstract perceptions and theories, which form the basis of thought for the NFs, and what they really find interesting, but for ISFPs may be hard to follow.

ISFPs find it hardest to communicate with intuitive/thinking (NT) personality types including ENTJ, INTJ, ENTP, and INTP. When communicating with these types, it would be good for ISFPs to keep to communication based upon logic and conceptualization. The problem however is that ISFPs find it hard to maintain dialogue in this way. They end up having to strain in order to find reasoning that resonates well with the NTs, which often leads either to ISFPs trying to wind down the conversation, or to their becoming irritated because the other party doesn’t “get it”. In order to ensure a level of communication acceptable for both parties, ISFPs need to adjust themselves beforehand to a style appropriate for the NTs.

 How to determine which personality type group another person belongs to?

What helps successful communication for an ISFP:

• The topic includes feelings and emotions
• The topic touches on aspects of beauty, attractiveness and visible/tangible qualities
• The topic mostly relates to concrete, current issues
• Communication with people from the SF or NF groups

What hinders successful communication for an ISFP:

• The topic is mostly abstract, theoretical in nature
• The topic is complex and deep in nature
• The topic requires finding hidden, unobvious possibilities
• Long communication with people from the NT group

Read more about communication strategies »