At training last week, we spent a lot of time talking about the how – how you talk to people, how you portray yourself, and how your use body language to communicate.
This is especially important for everyone to understand, not just businessmen/women, because only 7% of most received messages are based on content (the words you’re saying). The rest of the pie is divided between tone (38%) and body language (55%). This is not to say that your content can be sloppy or disconnected, but when thinking about the overall message you are trying to send, tone and body language are incredibly important – 93% important!
My favorite little quote I say all the time is, “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.” So true!
Instead of blabbering on and on about my thoughts on this topic, I thought I would share some of the quotes that were posted around our room last week. I think they paint a better picture about all of this than I ever could.
Does the breakdown between content, tone, and body language surprise you?
![WIA[and Made for My Sister]](https://i0.wp.com/www.myinnershakti.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/wiawphotobutton-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
Yes!! I need to work on that when communicating with my husband! 🙂 Thanks for the insight.
Oh man, me too! Slowly but surely… 🙂
…which explains why when a woman says “I’m Fine”, she most probably isn’t ;)!
Oh how true that is!
This is SO true. You can say one thing, and mean something completely different, but the only way to know is to pay attention to body language and tone.
I need to be SO careful of this, especially at work! Great reminder!
After the training, it’s all I can think about with every conversation I have. I may be taking it overboard!! Hahaha…
i love the images. that’s really surprising that only 7% of what you say really matters.. yeah that took me by surprise. so basically you need to use body language and tone in order to sell yourself.
It is pretty surprising, but the awesome thing is that by looking at communication through this lens, you can not only sell yourself but also build better relationships because now you’re focusing on the other person and what their perceptions and feeling are.
Ha – doesn’t surprise me but it’s still interesting to see just how much body language and tone influences people’s reactions.
I’m often guilty of going off on a rant without realising how the message might be coming across.
Hahaha @ Khushboo too – so so true!
Ha! Khushboo totally summarized it for me here 😀
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
I love that Emerson quote…I need to remember this every day! Especially when parenting. 🙂