[Podcast] The Enneagram for Writers - What's Your Writing Style?

By Melissa Parks and Dave Goetz

It's everywhere. The personality test known as Enneagram has exploded in popularity. Coaches, consultants, HR departments, leadership gurus - many  use the Enneagram to help with self-understanding - and thus everything from team building to bonding.

If you haven't yet heard of it, the Enneagram is a personality test comprised of 105 questions. It takes only ten minutes or so to complete. In fact, here's a quick link to an online version of the test: Enneagram Personality Test.

Your Writing Style

In this episode, we interview (again) Alysa Clark on how the Enneagram test and how our number (1 to 9) may shape not only what we write but how we write. Just so you know: Alysa is a 7 on the Enneagram, Melissa is a 4, and Dave is an 8.

One takeaway for Dave is that as an 8 on the Enneagram, he tends to write more provocatively; he likes to challenge his readers.

There are strengths and weaknesses with each Enneagram number. Alysa, for example, is a 7 on the Enneagram, so her writing tends to reflect her warm, inspirational personality. She makes a concerted effort to back her writing with more research, since she is not inclined to do tons of research.

The goal of this episode is to help you connect your Enneagram type with your writing style. The point is to be reflective about how you write. Sometimes your personality type may inform your writing; other times it may not or should not.

For more resources on the Enneagram, you may want to pick up The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile. It's important to note that understanding your personality using the Enneagram is more than simply taking a quiz.

To identify your number accurately will require additional reading and conversations with others.