"ESFP" Themes and Relationships

By Linda V. Berens Ph.D. and Dario Nardi Ph.D.

Personality Type:    ESFP - Presenter Motivator
Temperament:   Improvisor (SP)
Interaction Style*:    Get-Things-Going
Likely Social Style: Expressive

How to use this Personality Type Description

ESFP Snapshot

  • Theme is performance.
  • Warm, charming, and witty.
  • Want to impact and help others, to evoke their enjoyment, and to stimulate them to act.
  • Want to make a difference and do something meaningful.
  • Often masterful at showmanship, entertaining, motivating, and presenting.
  • Thrive on social interaction, joyful living, and the challenge of the unknown.
  • Like helping people get what they want and need, facilitating them to get results.

Themes and Relationships
for each Personality Type
by Linda V. Berens, Ph.D.
and Dario Nardi, Ph.D.**
ISTJ

 

ESFP Theme

For Motivator Presenters, life is a process of stimulating action—getting things going to get things done— preferably having a variety of projects going at once. It is not enough to just have a feeling; it is important to act on that feeling. They accomplish an amazing amount, often juggling a wide range of projects—all with a sense of style. They have a talent for presenting things with a “look”, with flair, and so others can more easily understand and use those things. They are the “natural actors” who meet what the environment gives them and engage others. They enjoy opening up people to all the possibilities they see. Instead of roadblocks and problems, they see challenges.

They have a healthy respect for freedom, theirs and others. Freedom is so important to them that anything that takes it away meets with strong resistance, even on small matters. Freedom from boredom gives them the strength to do what they need to but don’t want to. For them, anything is possible as long as they have freedom! Taking what others view as risk is part of their daily life. They perceive a choice as risky only when it would limit their options and variety.



In their thought processes, they often experience a swirl of input all at once. To manage all these nearly simultaneous perceptions, they want to know what is relevant so they can focus their attention—what’s the goal? Then they process the information so fast, they know what is important and what is wanted—they “get it.” Then they want to be off, achieving the goal. They often find it frustrating to have to stay tuned in, while others are delving deeper or going methodically from A to Z.

Many aspects of life interest them and they have a love of learning. Their talent for displaying and presenting information gets people interested, excited, and involved.

Interpersonally, they are warm and friendly. People open up and relate easily to them. Others are often charmed by their genuine caring, willingness to help, and generosity. They are keen observers of others and very alert to nonverbal cues. They are responsive to those clues, often adapting to others’ wishes to make their lives easier and happier. They want to give others the freedom they so value themselves.

Even though they have a talent for noticing and responding to nonverbal cues, they can place meaning on them that was not intended. When they misread others’ intentions, they can find themselves trapped in a web of complexities.

ESFP Relationships

For Motivator Presenters, relationships are about caring, sharing experiences, and having fun together. They are quite generous with their time and possessions. They are great at asking the right questions or making an immediate suggestion and getting a genuine response. They make the effort to get involved, don’t want to be left out of the loop, and often wind up being the center of attention. The upside is that in talking with people, they work really hard to see other people’s points of view. They can be very accommodating until they feel taken advantage of. They have an enormous desire to help and they are sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.

In their close relationships, they like having fun, doing things together. They don’t like dealing with relationship issues in an impersonal, abstract way but prefer relating personally. When there is deep caring, it’s very important and they can be very loyal. If things are going poorly, they will try to make the best of things for quite a long time. But if the situation doesn’t change, then they will want to stop sitting around and go out and start anew. They like affection and showing real feelings and visible gestures of caring.

This concludes "Themes and Relationships for ESFP,"
A Personality Type Description.

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**The Personality Type Description shown above is wholly owned and copyrighted by the authors Linda V. Berens Ph.D. and Dario Nardi Ph.D. and is used herein with their permission.

For a complete set of Personality Type Descriptions by Linda V. Berens and Dario Nardi please see: "The 16 Sixteen Personality Types - Descriptions for Self-Discovery"

*Interaction Styles as developed by Linda Berens, is a powerful lens with which to better understand people. For a complete understanding of Interaction Styles see:
"Understanding Yourself and Others, An Introduction to Interaction Styles"

Practitioners, Organizational Development Consultants, HR Managers, Leadership and Teamwork Trainers,
click here for professional level training by Linda Berens in:
Interaction Styles, Temperament, and Personality Type