Have you ever been around someone with incredible energy that you just want to be around? I call it magnetic presence and it goes far beyond the words they say. The question is: are some people just born with it? Or can you cultivate the skill of presence?
Today I want to expand our typical conversation about speaking to a broader talk around how we show up in business AND life. Because creating a magnetic presence will not only help you attract your ideal customers, it will enrich your personal relationships.
This episode is about awareness and intention for how to show up as your best.
LISTEN to the AUDIO of this episode:
Episode Highlights
- The 7-38-55 Rule of Communication
- Speaking is more than just our words
- How video / voice messaging can quickly elevate how you speak to people
- “Presence Challenge” you can try to create inspired actions to help you take ownership of your presence and how you show up
Episode Show Notes
Speaking: It’s more than just our words
When it comes to speaking, it’s more than just our words. Words alone are only a fraction of communication. It’s how we say those words and all of our nonverbals that brings meaning and emotion. We convey huge amounts of information this way.
3 Core Elements in How We Communicate:
- spoken words
- how you say the words (voice, tone)
- non-verbals (body language, facial expression)
The 7-38-55 Rule of Communication
Imagine for a second there’s a giant pie chart in front of you and there’s three slices of that pie. This is how we communicate with other people. This pie comes from a study done at University of Southern California by Professor Albert Mehrabian in which he concluded the effectiveness of spoken communication and the power of nonverbal communication.
You might be surprised that the distribution of these three pie slices are not equal and what surprises most people is just how unequal they are. It shows that only 7% of all communication is done through verbal communication whereas the nonverbal component of our daily communication such as our voice and body language make up 38% and 55% respectively. Here’s a detailed representation of Mehrabian’s research:
- 7% spoken words
- 38% (voice, tone)
- 55% (body language, facial expression)
So where does this all come back to you?
Words matter but we need to pay more attention to far more than just the words we are using to communicate with people. Know that when you strip away the other ways of communicating, the body language and the tone and the way you say it, you lose the ability to convey your intentions.
How video / voice messaging can quickly elevate how you speak to people
We’d love to add more personality to how we show up and communicate with others thinking that we need to come up with cute little quirky sayings and all this extra stuff but what if our personality is just how we spoke? Could you use Marco Polo or turn on your cameras on a Zoom call? How much better do you think your communication could be if you added a little bit more context, ie, video / audio message?
People can hear your enthusiasm and see your compassion so I want you to remember the power of showing your face when doing a video or even just an audio experience. It gives them more context and helps them get to know you and your unique personality.
Take ownership of your presence and how you show up
It’s not your responsibility to make sure that everybody likes you and knows you have the best intentions but instead think of how you can be more intentional and show up consistently at your best. We all have a duty to communicate in a way that matches our intentions so think of how you want the person to feel when you’re delivering a message and does your voice and face match it?
And here’s a little 7-day challenge / activity to help you with that as you head into the week:
Every day for the next seven days, do one moment of presence with another person. You can choose if it’s life or in business. Make sure to look at your calendar and see what conversations or who you are seeing today and how you can do one thing to be a little bit more present.
- Think of the three words people would use to describe you when you’re at your best and how do you make that happen.
- Remember those who you love the absolute most and think of what would it look like this week for you to give them that love through your communication and your body language.
Previous Episodes mentioned:
Your New Mantra: For Now, Not Forever – Ep #118
How To Articulate Your Thoughts So They Make Sense To Others – Ep #02
Checked out my earlier blog post here to help you present with IMPACT
