Body Language Tips to Leverage Your Communication
Body Language has an impact on your message.
Have you ever attended a conference and been enamored with one speaker and disappointed by the next? As you compare speaker’s side-by-side, what do you notice? Was the content spot on or was it off the mark? What had you feeling connected to one speaker and not the next?
Research now suggests that the words people use to communicate often have little to do with the actual messages we send and receive. In fact, a UCLA Study suggests that words account for only 7% of the impact a message has on its audience, when the message pertains to feelings and attitudes. According to psychologist, Albert Mehrabian, there are three elements that account for our perception of a person: words, tone of voice and body language. As a matter of fact, your tone of voice accounts for 38% of the overall impact of your message and body language, often facial expression, accounts for 55% of the impact. So, if we do the math here, researchers state that nearly 93% of our overall communication comes from what we’re not saying and has to do with our nonverbal cues.
So, starting from head to toe, here are a few communications tips to consider when you give your next presentation, have a conversation in the workplace, or begin a conversation at home.
1. Make Eye Contact—it sounds like a no brainer, right? But often times when we’re thinking about what we are going to say next, we forget to look at our audience and even to the person we are speaking with individually. When a speaker doesn’t give eye contact, audience members can conclude that you lack confidence or perhaps can’t be trusted. A great rule of thumb here is to finish a thought with one person and then move onto the next person. A thought can be one or more sentences and can end when you take a breath. If you need to gather your thoughts, take a moment to pause, look away thoughtfully, and continue to make eye contact once you begin speaking again. In our culture eye contact can signal that you are confident, knowledgeable, genuine and sincere.
2. Use Your Voice—think about volume, pace and inflection. First, are you loud enough? Can the people in the back of the room here you? Most people speak more softly than they realize. So, ask someone at the back of the room. Remember, the quality of your voice can command attention from your audience. Pacing. Do you tend to speak fast or quickly, or slowly? Try to change your cadence at different points in your presentation. This will keep your audience engaged. And if you are talking one-on-one, try to match or mirror the pace and tone of the other person as a way to build rapport. (You can read more about matching and mirroring in Neuro Linguistic Programming or NLP). Inflection—these are the ups and downs in your voice. You can use inflection to illustrate or emphasize ideas or points in your presentation and conversations.
3. Hands/Gestures—use your hands to “show” your audience what you are saying. Often times, hand gestures are used merely to emphasize a point and they can lose their impact or meaning to the viewer. Or often we end of fiddling with an object in our hands, which can give the appearance of being nervous. So, show your audience what you are saying. Take some time to figure out how you can illustrate your message with the gestures you choose. Gestures don’t have to be big either. In fact, smaller, more controlled hand movements can signal that you know what you are talking about and can have a greater impact.
4. Stance/ Posture—Stance is an important part of how an audience relates to a speaker. A speaker with poor posture who is slumped forward can actually give an impression of being small and insecure. According to Harvard professor, Amy Cuddy just two minutes of “power posing” before you give a presentation can be powerful. In her Ted Talk, she demonstrates how standing tall, holding your arms open in a “V” shape up towards the sky or standing with your hands on your hips and legs firm and strong like Superman or Superwoman can dramatically increase self-confidence. Check out Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk on Power Posing before your next presentation.
5. Be Yourself— there is nothing more compelling than receiving the gift of authenticity. Remember to connect with the people you are speaking with. Think about your own body language and the messages you are sending. Are you making eye contact, using appropriate facial expressions and gestures to engage with your audience? And does your body language match your words? How can you let your audience or an individual know that you are interested, engaged, listening and empathizing? And finally, since we know that words aren’t our most impactful communications tool, think about how to use body language and gestures to communicate your message. More often than not, it’s what we don’t say that leaves a lasting impression.
--Dawn