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152 It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor

conveys while speaking. These signals include body language, such as
how you sit in a chair or at a table, and whether or not you appear
to be actively listening and interested. Next comes voice, which
accounts for 38 percent of a speaker’s effectiveness. A person’s inflec-
tion, tone, pauses between sentences and thoughts, and the speed at
which a person talks make a strong impression and can dramatically
alter the meaning and direction of a conversation. Finally, the words
a person chooses to use, or not use, account for about 7 percent of
her effectiveness. So, regardless of the topic a person is discussing or
audience she is speaking with, the cadence of her voice and the image
she conveys with those nonverbal cues matter just as much as what
she’s actually saying. Combine these three factors and cumulatively
they make or break a person’s ability to achieve the desired outcome
for that conversation! So, making your words count is really all about
how you say it!

Guidelines for Making Your Words Count

Below are 10 specific areas with ideas you can use immediately to
start polishing your communication skills. These guidelines are
intended to make you more aware of how you communicate and give
you suggestions for increasing your overall effectiveness as a com-
municative leader. Pick and choose the ones that resonate with you!

Guideline 1: Capitalize on Nonverbal Communication

Have you ever talked to someone who didn’t look you in the eye?
How did that make you feel? Or maybe you have been in a conversa-
tion with someone who fidgeted while you were speaking and didn’t
seem especially interested in what you were saying. These are exam-
ples of nonverbal cues—body language, eye contact, and other sub-
tle and not-so-subtle signals that tell you (better than anything