TJ Walker (host) argues that effective public speaking requires both style (body language, voice) and substance (meaningful content). He criticizes the popular misinterpretation of a 1972 UCLA study (the so-called "7% rule"), calling it inaccurate when applied to whole speeches, and uses job-application/resume examples to show how style can overwhelm substance and vice versa. He advises practicing on video to balance style and substance, and signs off with a promotion of his Facebook page.
Questions this video answers
1972
7% words, 55% body language, 38% voice
facebook.com tjwalkerinteractive
TJ Walker
Chapters
So what's more important when it comes to public speaking and presenting? Is it style or is it substance? Well, folks, this is a tiresome, tiresome debate. Let me clear it up for you once and for all. You have to have both. You have to have style that doesn't confuse your audience, that's consistent with who you are. And you have to have substance that's important to you, that's meaningful to your audience. You always have to have both. There's this well known, well known mythologized study from 1972 from UCLA which purports to claim that only 7% of communication is about the words you use. 55% your body language, 38% your voice. Well, this is obviously pure hokum. And the author of the study says everybody gets it wrong and it's not what people think. He was judging the impact. Just if you shout one word different ways, not an entire speech. Think about it. If it were just about your style, how you use your body, your voice and words were only 7%, that would mean you could speak to anybody in the world in your own language. If they don't speak your language, they would still understand 93% of what you're trying to convey. Obviously, complete nonsense. Think of it this way. If I'm applying to work for you and you're desperately looking for a new, let's say, administrative assistant, and I give you a golden resume. Beautiful, beautiful paper. The COVID letter is beautiful. Everything in the COVID letter is exactly what you're looking for. The texture of the paper is great. My style is fantastic. But you then look at the resume and it turns out all of my experience is flipping hamburgers. I've never been in an office. I've never learned how to type. I don't know what a computer is. Are you going to hire me to be your administrative assistant just because of the style of my cover letter or resume? I don't think so. On the other hand, let's imagine that I have a resume that is everything you're looking for. Years of experience. I've got all the computer skills you're looking for. But I send you a cover letter and there's typos in it, there's misspellings, the paper's dirty. What's going to happen to my application? My guess is you're going to throw it in the trash can. In that situation, my style will overwhelm my substance. I may have good substance in either case. Whether I have great style or great substance, it doesn't matter. I have to have both. And that's what's critical when it comes to your presentation. You can't focus all your time on the body language and the hand gestures. You can't focus all your time writing and rewriting and rewriting your bullet points. You've got to focus on both. Now, the best way to focus on both is to practice on video and really look at yourself, how you move, how you sound, how you look and what you're saying. Until you're happy with the style and the substance, you're not ready to communicate. I'm TJ Walker. Thanks for joining me. If you'd like more tips on a regular basis on how to be a strong communicator, please like my Facebook page facebook.com tjwalkerinteractive.
