The Importance of Body Language
The Importance of Body Language Jennifer Schatzman BCOM/275 – Business Communications and Critical Thinking July 29, 2013 Ted Koontz Body language is an underrated form of communication. If one can understand body language, then the effective sending and receiving of a message can be raised. There are many forms of communication. Non-verbal communication is one form that can be a skill one can acquire and master. I will discuss the benefit of understanding body language as a communication tool. I will show the positive and negative effects one’s body language can have on the outcome of a message. I will explain how this type of demonstrative communication will involve “listening” and responding to another individual’s body language.
To understand body language is a tremendous skill to have early in a career. However, it is a skill that can benefit at any time in a career, and can give power and strength to communication. Understanding your own body language as well as interpreting another’s can help build trust with the individual or group you are interacting with. Positive presence through eye contact, stance, facial expression, and hands can raise the effectiveness of communication. In 1967, a study was done by Dr. Albert Mehrabian, of UCLA, that found 55 percent of communication comes through our body language; 38 percent of a message is communicated through tone of voice and inflection, and the remaining 7 percent is from actual words (Plessis & Plessis, 2008). This type of statistic can show the impact that body language alone could have on the receipt of a message. It can also show how important understanding the sender’s body language is to communication. Body language can easily be influenced by how one feels about the topic being discussed or presented. The other side of that is true as well with the receipt of the message. For example, if an individual starts the message with a powerful, confident
To understand body language is a tremendous skill to have early in a career. However, it is a skill that can benefit at any time in a career, and can give power and strength to communication. Understanding your own body language as well as interpreting another’s can help build trust with the individual or group you are interacting with. Positive presence through eye contact, stance, facial expression, and hands can raise the effectiveness of communication. In 1967, a study was done by Dr. Albert Mehrabian, of UCLA, that found 55 percent of communication comes through our body language; 38 percent of a message is communicated through tone of voice and inflection, and the remaining 7 percent is from actual words (Plessis & Plessis, 2008). This type of statistic can show the impact that body language alone could have on the receipt of a message. It can also show how important understanding the sender’s body language is to communication. Body language can easily be influenced by how one feels about the topic being discussed or presented. The other side of that is true as well with the receipt of the message. For example, if an individual starts the message with a powerful, confident