Page 18 - Effective Communication Skills Mastery Bible 4 Books in 1 Boxset by Tuhovsky, Ian

expressions and way of speaking. These proportions came

from the compilation of results of both comparisons (which is

one of the subjects of criticism). Other critics also point to the

fact that the group consisted only of women, there was

fragmentary focus only on relations between words and facial

expressions, and so on. Mehrabian’s survey concerned the
relationship between verbal and non-verbal communication

while expressing opinions, showing feelings and attitudes,

where the goal was to check how each of these elements

influences a positive reception of a speaker (seeing a speaker

as a friendly vs. unfriendly person). In summary, the scheme
tells us that the total proportions of the “sympathy factor” =

7% content + 38% verbal message (soft skills, use of

language, rate of speaking, etc.) + 55% body language. All

literal apprehensions of this graph can easily be seen as over

interpretations. You can come across many allegations that 7%
for content is definitely too little. This is not the main message

of this survey, though. If the proportions themselves are not

really accurate and important, then what is the essence of

this experiment? It pointed to the fact that effective

communication consists of two inseparable elements of
communication: verbal and non-verbal.

The “7%-38%-55%” rule can be seen as the metaphor

of effective and efficient communication, which MUST

contain the core of both verbal and non-verbal components,

connected in a smart and congruent way. Lack or inaccuracy

of both verbal and non-verbal messages will essentially limit
the effectiveness of communication and proper reception of

the transmitted message. Non-verbal messages influence

understanding and reception of verbal messages in a very