A well-quoted UCLA study, conducted by Professor Albert Mehrabian, indicates that body language constitutes about 55% of what we effectively communicate, while words only account for 7%. So learning how to communicate with hand gestures and body movements is important. But what happens when you are on the telephone and nobody can see what you are doing? What happens when you want to pitch a product or tell a story over the phone? It’s time to learn what accounts for 38% of effective communications. It’s not the words you say, but how you say them.
Listen to an untrained publicist or salesperson. They concentrate on the words they are saying, rather than the way they are saying them. Their voice sounds uninteresting, as if they are reading off of a script. Now, listen to a newscaster reading the news. Notice how their voice goes up and down very deliberately, emphasizing key points, and keeping your attention on what could be a very dry part of the news.
