A little ‘je ne sais quoi’

photoIt’s been a while since I spoke French, so when I found myself in Paris last week it was with some trepidation that I walked into a meeting to introduce a new leadership programme.

To be honest some of the business terminology has changed over the last few years, and I found myself relying more on body language and to an extent, sign language too!

And do you know what?  It worked.  The universal language of waving arms about, using facial expressions and the occasional shrug, all helped to get the message across.

I’ve been on many training courses where they quote the old ‘words are only 7% of the message, 38% is tone of voice and 55 % is body language’.  And last week I was particularly  glad that’s the case.

It’s made me even more aware of the non-verbal messages I can give out, and also how body language, if it’s in line with what we want to say, can be a powerful form of communication.

By Liz Kentish

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