We can all agree that a lot of what we communicate with others is implied through body language and facial expressions, it certainly is when I’m speaking with my wife. However, one man, Albert Mehrabian, performed multiple studies in the 1960’s which were meant to quantify how much of this communication is done through various channels.

Here is the equation for person-to-person communication he came up with:

Total liking = 7% verbal liking + 38% vocal liking + 55% facial liking

These studies have since been debunked but unfortunately, their presence is still felt and their effects can have serious side-effects.

Unfortunately, those who believe in this misconception focus too much of their time and energy on how they present the material and not enough on the information that is presented. Image teaching a new course, grade, subject, etc. and only spending 7% of your time prepping the content portion of your lessons and 93% of your time, planning the body and facial expressions you plan to display for your students. Furthermore, this puts a great deal of pressure on someone who may already feel uncomfortable presenting. Think about a student doing a presentation and you telling them that 93% of their grade will depend on their facial and body expressions while only 7% of their mark will be based on what they say.

Please view the short video below as it provides some excellent additional information.