TJ Walker and contributors debunk the famous "93% of communication is body language" myth, which actually measured tone on single words, not full presentations. They argue content matters most: focus on good ideas, tell stories, and practice so your body language matches your message.
Chapters
Body language questions from an hr director in egypt. Here's a question from Mohammed.
He is one of my online students.
In Egypt, and here's what he writes in TJ I am looking for some advice. I'd like to be able to attract my students with body language through sessions.
Where I introduce various concepts for the workplace.
So I don't want to seem like I'm belittling the importance of body language.
I've done entire courses on body language.
I am often called upon as an.
Expert on national and international news networks to analyze body language.
But here's the thing.
The most important thing is what you have to say.
If you have a bunch of new.
Employees coming to hear you speak, you.
Need to have something important, interesting and.
Relevant to them that's going to help them with their career.
Now, of course it's true. If your body language is arms crossed.
Scowling, looking down, hiding behind a lectern.
It won't matter how good your message.
Is, how good your topic is.
Your body language can scare people away.
But you can have the most inviting.
Wonderful body language in the world. Great eye contact, great hand motions, walking around the room.
If you don't have anything interesting and.
Important and relevant for the people you're.
Speaking to, they're not going to remember much.
They might like you a little or feel that you're comfortable, but what does.
That really do in the long run for you? So I'm a big believer that you.
Should start off with figuring out what.
Messages you have that are interesting and important and relevant to your audience.
Then figure out a way of packaging.
Those messages with stories, examples, case studies, images.
If you're using PowerPoint and then you.
Want to practice to make sure your body language is in sync, practice on.
Video so that you can tell you're.
Coming across comfortable, relaxed and engaging.
But when you fetish, excuse me for.
The use of this word, but if.
You fetishize body language above all else.
You'Re not really going to communicate.
And it brings me back to one of the worst trite sayings that a lot of phony baloney public speaking experts trot out, which is this study from 1972 at UCLA University of California at Los Angeles, which purports to show that 93% of all communication comes from your body language and your Voice, and only 7% content. Guess what? That's not what the study actually showed. It's been misrepresented in thousands.
I even put it out in a.
Blog post once erroneously. It's one of these things that sounds good, it sounds interesting, it sounds true, but it's not true. That's not what the study actually showed. What the study did was have people say one or two words with different inflections. And that's the only thing someone could use to judge whether they, like the person, has nothing to do with actually giving a presentation and the words and content.
So please, anytime you speak, focus on having good ideas. Then focus on communicating it in an.
Interesting and engaging way, and your body language will usually take care of itself.
