Body Language; what signals are you sending…or missing out on?
How many times, when growing up, do you remember being told to:
‘sit up straight’
‘look people in the eye’
‘have a firm handshake’
‘stop fidgeting’
‘smile’ …and the list goes on.
There are many books and websites, as well as years of research dedicated to the intricacies and details of body language. Much of that research has suggested that more than 70 percent of our communication is derived from nonverbal actions. Albert Mehrabian is noted for finding the 7%-38%-55% rule; denoting how much communication is identified by words, tone and body language.
Emailing and texting are great formats in which to impart specific information, but we’re missing out on each other’s very important nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions, gestures and eye contact. Think about the statistics above when choosing how you communicate with people. How much of your personality or expression are you forfeiting by texting or emailing. Our tone is often lost in translation; so next time, instead of texting or emailing, pick up the phone or walk down the hall and have a chat. You may actually ‘save’ some time by cutting out the back and forth of an email/text exchange and have the opportunity for some positive human interaction at the same time.
So I guess our parents did know best. Don’t forget to ‘sit up straight’, ‘look people in the eye’, ‘have a firm handshake’, ‘stop fidgeting’ and ‘smile’…you know the drill.
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