Comments on: Debunking the myths of non-verbal communication http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/ More Clients in Less Time, Even if You Hate Selling Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:26:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ianbrodie http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-15 ianbrodie Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:42:14 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-15 Brilliant - many thanks for the link Ian - much appreciated!<br><br>Rgds<br><br>Ian Brilliant – many thanks for the link Ian – much appreciated!

Rgds

Ian

]]> By: iankaye http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-14 iankaye Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:38:17 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-14 I absolutely agree with you that verbal skills are the most important. Please use this brilliant animation to confirm your point. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dboA8cag1M" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dboA8cag1M</a><br>It puts over the argument in a very effective and humorous way. I absolutely agree with you that verbal skills are the most important. Please use this brilliant animation to confirm your point. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dboA8cag1M
It puts over the argument in a very effective and humorous way.

]]> By: Ian Brodie http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-13 Ian Brodie Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:17:07 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-13 Thanks Miranda! I haven't done a debunking post for a while - but you've triggered my thinking again! Ian Thanks Miranda! I haven’t done a debunking post for a while – but you’ve triggered my thinking again!

Ian

]]> By: Miranda Bennett http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Miranda Bennett Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:22:10 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-12 Thanks for the interesting and informative post. I'm a librarian and recently attended a communication workshop, where the 93% statistic was trotted out with no caveats or context. I came across your blog while trying to track down its source. I've now read Mehrabian's 1968 "Psychology Today" article and am beginning to understand what the statistic was intended to mean. I really like your foreign film analogy because it illustrates Mehrabian's argument nicely. If I watch a film without understanding the language, I could probably figure out with a fair degree of accuracy--perhaps even 93%!--that Character X likes Character Y or that Character Z's social status is lower than Character A's or that Character R is really, really angry, but I certainly couldn't summarize the content of the dialogue or recap the plot. I've subscribed to your blog and hope you'll keep up the debunking! Thanks for the interesting and informative post. I’m a librarian and recently attended a communication workshop, where the 93% statistic was trotted out with no caveats or context. I came across your blog while trying to track down its source. I’ve now read Mehrabian’s 1968 “Psychology Today” article and am beginning to understand what the statistic was intended to mean.

I really like your foreign film analogy because it illustrates Mehrabian’s argument nicely. If I watch a film without understanding the language, I could probably figure out with a fair degree of accuracy–perhaps even 93%!–that Character X likes Character Y or that Character Z’s social status is lower than Character A’s or that Character R is really, really angry, but I certainly couldn’t summarize the content of the dialogue or recap the plot.

I’ve subscribed to your blog and hope you’ll keep up the debunking!

]]> By: sangos http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-11 sangos Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:41:43 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-11 The 93% maxim holds water for only emotions and not data (we CAN understand the emotions in a foreign film; if its p**n, then certainly-pun intended!). Human communication is still very emotional and in spite of today’s cold data driven internet, we invented emoticons as a workaround! And that is why the 93% maxim is so overwhelming in this scenario. Case in point would be the mating ritual of let’s say humans – allegedly the only animal to use data. The whole process of sexual attraction heavily uses non verbal communication, because it’s a very emotion based phenomenon. The mere sight of a very hot woman triggers complex emotional responses in men. And the sight and sound of a very confident man triggers comparative emotions in women. This is just a small sample of the larger complex mix of emotions, communication and interpretation in this situation. A point of interest would be in the case of a man, it also includes sound. Now here it means voice tone rather than the content of speech. No wonder a deep baritone is universally desired! Since us humans are hard wired to be much more responsive to emotions than data, especially while communicating: the 93% maxim is very true. Btw saw some alien movie where those guys neither use verbal/non verbal communication but guess what...telepathy!!? Can't imagine what it would be like to have all your stuff floating in the air for anybody to pick-up!!! Would have to make a very genuinely honest sales pitch definitely. The 93% maxim holds water for only emotions and not data (we CAN understand the emotions in a foreign film; if its p**n, then certainly-pun intended!). Human communication is still very emotional and in spite of today’s cold data driven internet, we invented emoticons as a workaround! And that is why the 93% maxim is so overwhelming in this scenario. Case in point would be the mating ritual of let’s say humans – allegedly the only animal to use data. The whole process of sexual attraction heavily uses non verbal communication, because it’s a very emotion based phenomenon. The mere sight of a very hot woman triggers complex emotional responses in men. And the sight and sound of a very confident man triggers comparative emotions in women. This is just a small sample of the larger complex mix of emotions, communication and interpretation in this situation. A point of interest would be in the case of a man, it also includes sound. Now here it means voice tone rather than the content of speech. No wonder a deep baritone is universally desired! Since us humans are hard wired to be much more responsive to emotions than data, especially while communicating: the 93% maxim is very true.

Btw saw some alien movie where those guys neither use verbal/non verbal communication but guess what…telepathy!!? Can’t imagine what it would be like to have all your stuff floating in the air for anybody to pick-up!!! Would have to make a very genuinely honest sales pitch definitely.

]]> By: The Myth of Goal Setting | Sales Excellence http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-10 The Myth of Goal Setting | Sales Excellence Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:38:20 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-10 [...] seem to be spending much of my time debunking management myths nowadays (see Debunking the myths of non-verbal communication and Callenging the 80:20 rule). This one has been brought back to my attention by a seminar I [...] [...] seem to be spending much of my time debunking management myths nowadays (see Debunking the myths of non-verbal communication and Callenging the 80:20 rule). This one has been brought back to my attention by a seminar I [...]

]]> By: Ian Brodie | Professional Services Business Development http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-9 Ian Brodie | Professional Services Business Development Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:00:22 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-9 Thanks for your kind words Rachel, I think when your acting teacher saw the "essence" of the play they were probably picking up the emotional component. I bet they couldn't pick up the names of the protagonists, the intricacies of the plot, or any of Shakespeare's word-play. But I think by your later comment that you'd agree. The concept of "percentage" doesn't adequately convey what is transferred in a communication. Ian Thanks for your kind words Rachel,

I think when your acting teacher saw the “essence” of the play they were probably picking up the emotional component. I bet they couldn’t pick up the names of the protagonists, the intricacies of the plot, or any of Shakespeare’s word-play. But I think by your later comment that you’d agree. The concept of “percentage” doesn’t adequately convey what is transferred in a communication.

Ian

]]> By: Rachel http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-8 Rachel Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:55:11 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-8 Ian, Thanks for such a succinct summation (easily found by web searching too!) I agree this figure bears out closer examination. I'd add one minor point to how you make your point. I think if you are watching skilled actors, and are yourself able to watch people (rather than relying more on the content of the words spoken in a film) it is possible to understand much of what is going on in a film or play spoken in another language (sometimes even 93%) I had an acting teacher who disliked Shakespeare until he saw Hamlet performed in Hungarian - and understood its essence. But...it does depend. Some people are much more skilled at picking up non-verbal cues, facial expressions. I suspect (but have no evidence) that children may have an innate ability to do this before they learn to read and learn to give primacy to the content/what they are told, rather than direct observation of the world. Again, thank you for your blog. Ian,

Thanks for such a succinct summation (easily found by web searching too!)

I agree this figure bears out closer examination.

I’d add one minor point to how you make your point. I think if you are watching skilled actors, and are yourself able to watch people (rather than relying more on the content of the words spoken in a film) it is possible to understand much of what is going on in a film or play spoken in another language (sometimes even 93%)

I had an acting teacher who disliked Shakespeare until he saw Hamlet performed in Hungarian – and understood its essence.

But…it does depend. Some people are much more skilled at picking up non-verbal cues, facial expressions. I suspect (but have no evidence) that children may have an innate ability to do this before they learn to read and learn to give primacy to the content/what they are told, rather than direct observation of the world.

Again, thank you for your blog.

]]> By: Sales Excellence » Postscript to Debunking the myths of non-verbal communication http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-7 Sales Excellence » Postscript to Debunking the myths of non-verbal communication Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:47:20 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-7 [...] those who haven’t read the original article, have a look and you’ll find that the often quoted figure of 93% is just pure hokum (well, [...] [...] those who haven’t read the original article, have a look and you’ll find that the often quoted figure of 93% is just pure hokum (well, [...]

]]> By: Ian http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Ian Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:31:48 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-6 Thanks Ricci I've had a bug-bear about this for years, and I finally couldn't resist having a rant! Not that I don't think non-verbal communication isn't important - it's just I hate sloppy thinking and mindless acceptance of accepted dogma! Ian Thanks Ricci

I’ve had a bug-bear about this for years, and I finally couldn’t resist having a rant!

Not that I don’t think non-verbal communication isn’t important – it’s just I hate sloppy thinking and mindless acceptance of accepted dogma!

Ian

]]> By: The Marketers Gazette http://www.ianbrodie.com/selling/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-5 The Marketers Gazette Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:22:56 +0000 http://www.lighthousebc.co.uk/blog/articles/debunking-the-myths-of-non-verbal-communication.html#comment-5 I agree. Great article Ian. Ricci I agree. Great article Ian.

Ricci

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