Always misquoted, Mehrabian's formula says that the meaning of a message is communicated by:
Your words 7%
Your tone of voice 38%
Your body language 55%.
Shocking!
While this formula has been debunked comprehensively multiple times, it is still dragged out by misinformed trainers all over the world.
And like all myths, it does more harm than good.
From Speaking About Presenting ( http://www.speakingaboutpresenting.com/presentation-myths/mehrabian-nonverbal-communication-research/ ), Olivia Mitchell wrote:
In a personal email to Max Atkinson, reproduced in Max's book "Lend me your Ears" Albert Mehrabian said:
I am obviously uncomfortable about misquotes of my work. From the very beginning I have tried to give people the correct limitations of my findings. Unfortunately the field of self-styled 'corporate image consultants' or 'leadership consultants' has numerous practitioners with very little psychological expertise. (31 October 2002)
As a learning and development professional, I will challenge this every time I encounter this.
Kill the Mehrabian Myth.
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