Words Matter
Posted by Essay Help on November 9, 2009Despite the high intensity of e-mail that flows invisibly all the time, thither is often no artificial for talking with people. Indeed, in many organizations, big decisions are made only after in-person conversations. Many career people accept this seriously. Herein lies an opening for misjudgement.
It is not especial to find a white-collar girl who believes that tone and body language are underrated in effective address. Any polish their hand gestures and rehearse circumstantial tones of expression because they believe that capital without communication is anemic. It’s not just content, they have, but delivery. Search an edge, any even have the famous 7% rule memorized.
The 7% rule states:
• 55% of meaning comes from presentation
• 38% of meaning comes from key
• 7% of meaning comes from the words themselves.
Tho’ this has brought confidence and achiever to any, thither are allay people who pay more than 7% attention to the words others communicate. Neither is a fringe group. However, only the latter has the backing of technological research.
In 1967, Dr. Albert Mehabrian and his UCLA colleagues concluded studies in communication that yielded an astonishing result: The words you consume in address to others do not matter nearly as much as the chant of your expression or your body language. As the press picked up the account, the idea was extended: written words also accept a back seat to presentation and key.
According to Mehabrian and his group, the original studies were never advantageously appreciated. They have always asserted that words matter lots. Perhaps they didn’t consume the right presentation and chant - or perhaps the media were hunting for blow duration.
The Mehabrian studies attempted to reveal the relative impact of facial expressions and key on the apprehension of expressed words. Subjects listened to recordings of a female expression expression single words (much as “maybe” and “honey”) in different tonalities. They were also shown photos of female faces with different facial expressions. They were so asked to guess the emotions portrayed in each, and to link the recordings with the faces.
The results of the studies appeared in full in Mehabrian’s books, Inaudible Messages (Wadsworth, 1971) and Nonverbal Communications (Aldine Atherton, 1972). In both books, he clearly states that for inconsistent messages or incongruent communications, body language and key are probably more reliable indicators of meaning than the words themselves. Presentation and chant are more reliable than words alone for interpretive guidance with single-word expressions. These are not general circumstances.
In a 1994 issue of Anchor Point, Dr. C.E. Johnson writes, “If these percentages were really binding, it would mean that learning foreign languages could be greatly abbreviated. After all, if the words only account for 7% of the meaning, we should all be able to go to any country in the class and simply by listening to chant and carefully observing body language, be able to accurately interpret 93% of their communications!”
In a 1997 issue of The Symposiarch, J.E. Pearson asks, “Imagine if Nathan Hale had said, ‘Okay; I’m choice to die for my country,’ instead of ‘I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.’ Imagine Winston Churchill expression, ‘Don’t be afraid,’ instead of, ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’
Yes; tone and body language matter lots - especially with single-word expressions. When address inside a common language and culture do not be fooled by the myth of the 7% rule. Words matter - probably much more than 7%.
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