Interesting People - Albert Mehrabian
Albert Mehrabian, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, UCLA, came up with the 7%-38%-55% rule. (His premise is that when it comes to "liking" someone, words account for 7%, tone of voice accounts for 38%, and body language accounts for 55%, this is abbreviated as the "3 Vs" for Verbal, Vocal & Visual. Unfortunately people often use his research to say that communication is only 7% verbal. Which of course is nonsense. On his website, Mehrabian clearly states: "Total Liking = 7% Verbal Liking + 38% Vocal Liking + 55% Facial Liking. Please note that this and other equations regarding relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages were derived from experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes (i.e., like–dislike). Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or attitudes, these equations are not applicable. Also see references 286 and 305 in Silent Messages – these are the original sources of my findings.&qu