Once upon a time, 1967 to be exact, UCLA Professor Albert Mehrabian came up with a theory – misinterpreted ever since – that the meaning and understanding of a speech is 93 percent body language, facial expressions and tone of voice, and only 7 percent the actual words.
Those of us in the word business take umbrage. After all, we believe words matter most.
I invite you to view the delightful YouTube video below, produced by creativityworks.net, that debunks the Mehrabian Myth. It was sent to me by fellow speechwriter Chris Witt. Witt is the author of Real Leaders Don’t Use PowerPoint, and has written extensively on speechwriting topics.
Click below to enjoy the video; it’s only 3:30 minutes.
