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This description has been translated from When I, as a human, make a statement it has
Schulz von Thun’s website. It can be acces- four different effects. Each of my statements
sed in German under http://www.schulz-von- contains, whether I want it or not, four messa-
thun.de/mod-komquad.html ges simultaneously.
The communication square is the most famili- - Factual information (which I am informing
ar, and by now the most widespread, model about) – blue,
by Friedemann Schulz von Thun. This model al- - A self statement (what I show of myself) –
so became known as the ‘four-ear-model’. green,
The four levels of communication are not just
- A relationship indicator (what I think of you
significant for private companionship, but
and how I relate to you) – yellow,
especially for the vocational domain—where
the professional and human are constantly in- - An appeal (what I want you to do) – red.
terlocking.
Therefore, Schulz von Thun represented the cumstances and has many opportunities to fol-
four sides of a statement as a square and attri- low up according to the three criteria
buted four beaks to the sender and four ears mentioned above.
to the receiver. From a psychological perspecti-
ve, when we communicate 4 beaks and 4 Self statement: When somebody provides a
ears are participating on both sides; the quali- statement, they also provide a part of them-
ty of the conversation depends on the man- selves. Every statement also contains, whe-
ner in which these interact. ther one wants it or not, a self statement, an
indication of what is going on inside of me,
On the factual level of the conversation the what I am feeling, what I stand for and how I
factual information stands in the foreground, conceive my role. This can happen explicitly
here the focus is on dates, facts, and factual (‘me-messages’) or implicitly. This circumstan-
content. For the factual level there are three ce turns every message into a small tasting of
applicable criteria: the truth criteria of true or one’s personality, which can be of some con-
false (correct/not correct), the criteria of rele- cern to the sender, not just during examinati-
vance (are the listed facts relevant/not rele- ons and encounters with psychologists.
vant for the present issue, and the criteria of
sufficiency (are the listed factual indicators suf- While the sender is using the self-statement
ficient for the issue or do many other things al- beak, implicitly or explicitly, to provide infor-
so need to be considered?) mation about themselves, the recipient is ta-
king it all in with the self-statement ear:
For the sender it is therefore important to What does this tell me about the other? What
clearly and coherently communicate the factu- kind of person are they? What is their disposi-
al content. The receiver, who has opened his tion? Etc...
factual ear, listens to the dates, facts, and cir-