Many years ago, I learned about Albert Mehrabian's rule of 55-38-7 in communication. This rule states that 55% of our communication is through body language, 38% through tone of voice, and only 7% through actual words (Project Management). Professor Mehrabian, a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of California, Los [Read More]
I was watching the CBS morning news the other day and as the program neared its end, the anchors talked for a few minutes with Vanessa Van Edwards, an expert on body language and the author of the just published book- Cues- Small Signals – Incredible impact. (video clip) According [Read More]
Have you ever considered that everything we know about body language and non-verbal communication does not really apply in a video conference call? I certainly had not. In the Bartleby commentary in the business section of The Economist (February 5, 2022 edition), the author discusses how “online working has changed [Read More]
I do not know about you, but I have been emailing much much more over the last thirteen months than in pre-Covid days. And, with this increase has come attempts to negotiate by e mail. A recent study confirms what my gut has told me: that negotiating by e mail [Read More]
In its February 20, 2020 edition, The Economist published an article entitled, “Do not rely on Facial expressions for how people are feeling.” Noting that both Aristotle and Cicero believed that “...the face was a window onto a person’s mind”, the authors commented that more than 2000 years later, we [Read More]
One of the latest blog posts from the Harvard Negotiation Project notes the importance of understanding body language in negotiations. Written by the PON staff and posted on January 30, 2020, “Using Body Language in Negotiation” analyses three situations in which analyzing body language may improve the outcome of your [Read More]
One of the first things a mediator in training is taught is to listen, really listen what the parties are saying. Aka “Active Listening”! Well, it seems that the need and ability to listen is a trait that many in the general population should also learn. A recent article in [Read More]
Recently I came upon an older article written by Tammy Lenski entitled, “Face to Face negotiation better than e-mail.” (“Lenski”) While the article was originally published in December 2003, its points are probably truer today than fifteen years ago. The last decade and a half has seen an explosion in [Read More]
