I once met a German guy who fits all the stereotypes, and dear Lord, he was scary. He was an assistant teacher in a special class in elementary school, and I was always stressed during his lessons and did really badly. Fortunately, doing poorly caused me to get switched to another teacher. I have hypersensitivity, so I can't stand when people talk that loudly or that suddenly (he didn't "talk" so much as shout, really).
I like people sugar-coating things, personally. Maybe because it's what I'm used to.
I live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and there's a lot of people here that are introverted, not overly talkative, reserved, and fairly polite. Pretty much all the people I work with are like that to some degree. If they have a problem with you, they'll usually either sugar-coat their complaint, or they'll just nod and smile to your face and complain about you to someone else while you're not around. But our company's corporate office is in Minnesota, which has a totally different culture in this regard, so we end up interacting with a lot of people who are blunt, loud, assertive, critical, and can't seem to take a hint. If they have a problem with you, they might verbally abuse you to your face. At least, it seems abusive to us sensitive Arizona folks; the Minnesota staff considers that behavior perfectly normal and professional. (I feel like they totally overdo the eye-contact too. Even when they're not angry, it's like they're trying to stare you down.)
I like the Arizona style better. 