It’s What You Don’t Say: Nonverbal Communication in Important Meetings
Think back to when you were a young teen. While you may have gotten in trouble with your parents and teachers a few times for being fresh, you probably remember being in trouble countless more times for what you did not say—things like smirking, eye rolling, and the like were always a favorite trigger for your mom to swiftly send you packing to your room without dinner.
In your adult life, how many times have you gotten heat not for what you said, but rather how you said it? You see, it’s not the words we say that are so important, but rather what we are saying as a cohesive whole, for better or worse. That is why videoconferencing and video depositions can be such powerful tools—especially in the right hands.
The Power of Nonverbal Communication
After years of study, it is now pretty much common knowledge that a majority of our communication with others is done either nonverbally or through other verbal cues like intonation, volume, pitch, and other sounds. What’s shocking, however, is just how little of our actual communication is done with words—only about seven to ten percent, says new research.
The remaining 90 percent is nonverbal communication, such as facial expressions, hand gestures, and body positioning (which makes up more than half of our communication). Just under half comes from verbal cues. That’s an awful lot of communication you could miss in a written transcript or phoned-in meeting!
Videoconferencing unlocks the remaining 50 to 90 percent of communication that is missing from the voice-only meeting formats many offices use to connect different branches or locations. With Casamo & Associates’ videoconferencing services, you can get to the root of the message you want to send more efficiently than ever before. Call us today to learn how!
