How to Talk to Anyone: 27 Subtype Communication Guides
You fixed how your AI writes. Now fix who it writes for.
Generic communication is a coin flip. You write something clear, concise, and well-structured, send it to ten people, and get ten different reactions. Three people love it. Two ignore it. One gets offended. Four skim it and forget it existed.
The problem is not your writing. The problem is that people do not process messages the same way. Personality science has mapped 27 distinct subtypes, each driven by a different instinctual filter that shapes how they receive, prioritize, and react to incoming information. These filters run automatically, beneath conscious awareness, and they cannot be overridden.
The 27 subtypes break down across three instinct families:
- Farmer: Filters for safety, resources, stability, and practical utility. Nine types, each with a different survival strategy.
- Teamer: Filters for belonging, status, group dynamics, and group positioning. Nine types, each with a different relationship to the group.
- Hunter: Filters for intensity, connection, power, and personal impact. Nine types, each with a different expression of drive.
Every guide below profiles one subtype: what triggers them, what shuts them down, before-and-after rewrites, and a free prompt you can paste into any LLM to optimize your message for that person.
Farmer Subtypes: Engagement Through Clarity
Farmers engage when communication removes uncertainty. They want to understand how change works in practice and what it means for daily execution. Their questions are practical: What exactly is changing? What do I need to do differently? What happens next?
Clear timelines, step-by-step guidance, and operational detail drive adoption. Personalized messaging that connects initiatives to responsibilities, workflows, and outcomes builds confidence and speeds execution. Vague inspiration creates hesitation. Without clarity, Farmers wait rather than act.
| Subtype | Type | Core Filter | Key Risk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Worry | One | Be good and correct through disciplined self-improvement | Vague expectations |
 | Privilege | Two | Be loved and prioritized for who they are | Cold transactional openings |
 | Security | Three | Earn security through quality, integrity, and productivity | Hype without proof |
 | Tenacity | Four | Endure pain through stoic effort and disciplined work | Pity framing |
 | Castle | Five | Maintain safety through boundaries, privacy, and self-sufficiency | Repeated pings and intrusion |
 | Warmth | Six | Create safety through trustworthy alliances and dependable connection | Surprise changes |
 | Keepers of the Castle | Seven | Secure advantage through pragmatic alliances and opportunities | Abstract philosophy without utility |
 | Satisfaction | Eight | Timely satisfaction of material needs with zero frustration tolerance | Indirect openers |
 | Appetite | Nine | Maintain comfort through routine, concrete activity, and low friction | Abstract strategy talk |
Teamer Subtypes: Engagement Through Connection
Teamers engage when communication strengthens alignment. They care about how decisions affect people and whether the organization is moving together. They look for: Why are we doing this? How does this help our team succeed? Who else is involved?
Messages that include leadership voice, peer participation, and visible collaboration build trust. Personalized communication that acknowledges team impact or reinforces shared purpose increases adoption because people see themselves inside the change. Transactional announcements feel disconnected and are quickly ignored.
| Subtype | Type | Core Filter | Key Risk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Non-Adaptability | One | Model the right way through principled correctness and authority | "Just trust me" language |
 | Ambition | Two | Win influence and advantages through strategic generosity | Modesty-only framing |
 | Prestige | Three | Achieve visible success, status, and influence through competition | Vague excellence language |
 | Shame | Four | Seek belonging while managing shame and painful self-comparison | Tough love bluntness |
 | Totem | Five | Find meaning through shared knowledge, ideals, and frameworks | Shallow slogans |
 | Duty | Six | Reduce anxiety through rules, authority, and procedural certainty | Informal ambiguity |
 | Sacrifice | Seven | Be good and valuable through service, idealism, and self-restraint | Cynical tone |
 | Solidarity | Eight | Use strength to protect others and lead with loyal action | Detached analysis without protective mission |
 | Participation | Nine | Belong through group participation while losing personal priorities | Exclusion cues |
Hunter Subtypes: Engagement Through Momentum
Hunters engage when communication signals forward movement. They want to know what is changing, where the organization is going, and how they can be part of progress. They read messages to answer three questions: What's new? Why now? Where does this lead?
Announcements framed around growth, innovation, or new capability capture their attention immediately. Personalized communication that highlights opportunity, ownership, or impact turns awareness into action. Dense policy explanations lose them. Messages that feel static or procedural disappear into background noise.
| Subtype | Type | Core Filter | Key Risk | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Zeal | One | Reform what is wrong with urgent moral intensity | Passive voice and hidden agency |
 | Seduction | Two | Secure needs through intense personal magnetism and power | Coy ambiguity |
 | Charisma | Three | Achieve through attractiveness, advocacy, and promoting others | Self-only bragging |
 | Competition | Four | Transform deficiency into competitive intensity and recognition | Vague harmony talk |
 | Confidence | Five | Seek deep trust and ideal connection while protecting inner world | Superficial banter |
 | Strength | Six | Master fear by projecting strength and defensive capability | Timid framing |
 | Suggestibility | Seven | Pursue exciting possibilities with enthusiastic imaginative focus | Dream stacking without execution |
 | Possession | Eight | Secure influence and power through intensity and environmental control | Passive requesting |
 | Fusion | Nine | Maintain connection by merging with significant others | Speaking for them |
Why Employee Engagement Breaks Down
Most organizations communicate in a single instinct language. Vision-heavy messaging energizes Hunters but leaves others unsure what to do. Process-heavy communication satisfies Farmers but fails to motivate action. Culture-focused messaging resonates with Teamers while expectations remain unclear.
Messages reach inboxes but miss attention. People disengage not because they do not care, but because communication answers only one set of motivations.
Personalization Is the Difference
Personalization is often reduced to inserting a name into an email. Real personalization aligns communication with how people decide to act. Hunters respond to opportunity and progress. Farmers respond to clarity and certainty. Teamers respond to connection and shared purpose.
When communication platforms adapt framing, emphasis, and delivery to these instincts, engagement rises quickly. People recognize relevance because the message matches how they naturally process change. Communication stops competing for attention and starts earning it.
What This Means for Leaders and HR
Engagement improves when communication is designed intentionally rather than broadcast uniformly. Before sending a message, ask: Does this show momentum for Hunters? Does it provide clarity for Farmers? Does it reinforce connection for Teamers?
High-performing organizations vary framing, personalize delivery, and design communication systems around human attention rather than organizational convenience. Engagement increases because people no longer have to adapt to the message. The message meets them where they already are.
How to Use This Series
Read the article. Pick the subtype that matches your recipient. You'll get the filter they use, five mistakes that kill your message, and before-and-after rewrites.
Use the free prompt. Paste your draft into ChatGPT, Claude, or any LLM, then paste the prompt from the article. The model rewrites your message for that subtype.
Pair with the companion guides. This series fixes who your message targets. The AI Smells Remover fixes how your AI writes. The Formatting Optimizer fixes how your message looks. Use all three.
Go deeper. This is what Rally does automatically: communications optimized for each person's instinctual profile, at scale, without the manual prompting.