Speak your mind: Learn how to become more assertive

There are many advantages to becoming more assertive. It not only empowers you to become a stronger and more confident communicator, but it also helps to improve your decision-making skills. It encourages you to make decisions without second-guessing yourself. Assertiveness is therefore a key skill that can help you to better manage yourself, people and situations. 

During this workshop, given by Rosanne Ceuppens, you will learn how to extend your toolkit for assertive behaviour and how to communicate in an efficient way. The focus will be on increasing insight and awareness, as well as on providing concrete tools which will be practiced during the sessions and in-between. 

The workshop consists of two half-day sessions and a reflection session during which you will (a) reflect upon the assertive tools that you have used in real life from the start of the course onwards and (b) gain insight into your current challenges and growth.

• During the two training sessions we will first discuss what assertiveness entails and why it is a relevant skill. Consequently, we will explore some barriers that could potentially prevent you from becoming more assertive. Afterwards, some strategies will be introduced that you can use to become more assertive to further both your confidence and interpersonal relationships. The aim of the reflective and interactive exercises is to gain insight into your own behavior and to become conscious of certain patterns and thoughts. It's a hands-on workshop with room for exercises so you can try out tools and experience several assertive communication techniques. 
  
  
• During the third reflection session, we'll take a look at the steps that you've taken to improve your assertive communication style, and we will discuss possible challenges that you might still face. There will also be room for any remaining questions. 

Preparation

You will receive a preparatory, reflective exercise one week before the start of the course. This should last approx. 20 minutes. In between the two training sessions you will receive a few reflective exercises to explore your assertive behavior in real life. 

Learning outcomes 

After this workshop, you will be able to:

• distinguish between several communication styles (such as sub-assertive, assertive and aggressive communication),
• use active listening techniques,
• evaluate situations in a more objective manner and become aware of how your interpretations and thoughts may influence your reaction,
• use assertive communication techniques.

Competences

An important part of preparing for any further professional step is becoming (more) aware of the competences you have developed and/or want to develop. In the current workshop, the following competences from the UHasselt competency overview are actively dealt with:

Intellectual competences: 

• Personal effectiveness:
  • self-development
  • initiative
  • autonomy
• Task-orientedness
  • Result-orientedness

For whom?

• PhD students & postdocs - 12 places available.

When & where?

Please bear in mind that participation in all sessions is required.

• 2 June, 2026: 9:30-12:30, Campus Hasselt: FR-1.03
• 9 June, 2026: 9:30-12:30, Campus Hasselt, OG-C1.1 (Blue room)
• 23 June, 2026: 9:30-12:00, Campus Hasselt: OG-D1.1 (Yellow room)

Registration

• Registration will open on 9 February 2026. Register. 
• As places are limited, registering does not automatically imply that you will be able to participate. You will be notified by email after the registration deadline has passed.
• Please cancel your registration at least one week in advance in case you cannot make it (cf. cancellation & no-show policy).

Acknowledged as?

• DS BSH: category 'career management & personal development' - workshop aimed at personal development, OR category 'research management & communication skills' - workshop on general communication skills
• DS HLS: category 'transferable skills' - one compulsory elective course
• DS ST: category 'career & personal development' - course about personal development, OR category 'scientific & generic communication' - course about generic communication