The Power of Words

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Ah, Mark Twain, never have more truer words been spoken. I deal with the following statement from people I meet ALL the time:

Linguistic Consultant? But you know that words only count for 7% of all human communication, right....?

And they go on to spout forth statistics about tone of voice, facial expression, body language etc. These are people I would consider intelligent human beings, but they nevertheless tell me about how useless my profession is and it's all about having acting lessons. Whilst I love Amy Cuddy, and I really do, she and I aren't enemies, we are some of the branches of human communication. Together, we can solve the world's communication problems, albeit from different angles.

You've all heard, read and watched countless statistics like this, that "prove" that words are only a drop in the ocean when it comes to human communication, but as Mr. Twain so rightfully says, statistics very often lie - or at least are manipulated for our own needs.

So, with on 7% of all human communication being words, tone of voice being 38% and non-verbal cues making up 55% (I checked, those numbers add up) did you even know where this study comes from? Or who said these things? No. Though so.

Professor Albert Mehrabian et al based at UCLA conducted studies on human communication patterns - true. However, the studies had nothing to do with giving speeches, or presentations or investor pitches but were based on information conveyed in a single word or utterance. The elevator pitch is short, but it's notthat short.

It turns out that content is important, thank you very much. It's VERY important. Moreover, structure is important and the order in which you say things are important. Have you ever told a joke and have it either fall flat on its face or give it in the wrong order to only be stared at by your audience, heaving sigh of relief that your calling as a stand-up can wait and you shouldn't quit your day job? Yeah, that's not a joke. It's not a joke because jokes are shrouded in structure and timing. This is the same for investor pitches - but instead of a chuckle or an unsightly toothless grin, you're aiming for a couple of thousands bucks. No biggie? It's as big as Biggie himself (back in the day at least).

So, the next time you think you don't need help writing your pitch because your clear voice, open gait and gleeful expression are all you need for that big ask and the investments to start streaming in, I ask you to think again before this statistic lies to you. There's more to human communication than jazz hands and pacing up and down a stage (if your pitch coach is telling you to do that, I'm awfully sorry but that's not how it's done). Use your words, and use them wisely.