Okay, so to continue the theme of the previous 2 blogs, today we will cover body language. Why? Because it goes directly along with HOW you say what you say and boy does it matter!

You can say “I really love your hair” to someone, which sounds like a compliment. However, if you say it in an insincere tone of voice and have your arms crossed and are looking away from them, then you sent a very different message. If you are looking at them directly, smiling and standing in an open posture, the message comes across as the true compliment you would expect it to be.

Why do I bring this up to you? Well, it’s because in this world where everyone has an 8 second attention span and is very distracted and mostly not actively listening, much less participating in the conversation genuinely, our bodies give that away for us. This is frustrating to us when trying to convey an important message and it is important to those who wish to convey something important to us.

Being a good communicator means using everything you have to work in conjunction to reach the other person and to let them know they have reached you. People do still value real live interaction with other people. They just receive much less of it these days.

So, in the last blog post we talked about how having the confidence to express yourself does make a difference. Likewise, HOW you say what you have to say matters as well.

How you say what you say truly matters. For example, people are turned off by certain delivery methods and so are less likely to listen. Also, the setting you are in, your perceived social status in that setting and your comfort level in speaking up will have an impact as well.

Let’s start with your delivery method (which is likely not the problem anyway). If you are coming across as angry, over the top, or mean or threatening, people will be less likely to want to listen. Nobody likes a bully or a really negative person.