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- Is Your Body Saying Something Different?
Each week, we share a practical technique to become a more effective storyteller and analyze a video that demonstrates its use in the real-world.
Quote of the Week
“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
photo: via YouTube
Is Your Body Saying Something Different?
“You know you touch your nose every time you tell a story?”
My wife and I were driving back home from a party at a friend’s house.
“I do?” I asked. “All the time,” was her response.
As a presenter or storyteller it is easy to think that it’s the words we use, the way we enunciate them or even the pauses that make our story memorable. They all can and do.
But, before the first word is out of your mouth, your body is already broadcasting. And it is always not saying the same thing as the words you speak.
The easiest way to recognize this is to watch yourself or anyone else deliver a speech with the sound turned off. You will be amazed to see how loudly your body speaks and at times you may be amazed but likely embarrassed by what it’s saying.
Is body language all that important? Why wouldn’t just my words suffice?
Body language speaks through even your phone
Early in my career, I was sent to a training class on how to be effective on the phone (I’ve just dated myself, I think).
They gave each of us a mirror, the size of a playing card, with a small stand. We were instructed to place it next to the phone on our desks.
Each time the phone range, we were taught first to look into the mirror, smile and only then pick up the phone and say “Hello” or “Good morning,” or “Srikrishna,” our preferred greeting.
This one simple act lowered customer and partner complaints and measurably improved our performance as a team. And this when the customer could not even see us or our smiles.
If body language can be transmitted through the phone lines, imagine how much louder and more powerful it is when visible!
Video
In today’s video we actually do this exercise of watching three ‘successful’ and senior leaders’ body language. Two of the videos are in a 1:1 interview format with the press and third is in a deposition in front of the US Congress. All three videos are muted so you can see what their body is saying and the links to their original videos are shared too so you can see what it is they said verbally!
Here are the links to the original videos VP Pence’s interview, Chip Berg’s interview and Martin Shkreli’s deposition in front of the US Congress.Th