The much-contested and oft-misquoted 1971 Mehrabian study indicated that there are basically three elements in any face-to-face communication: words, tone of voice, and body language. In the very specific situation in which he was testing the relative importance of these elements, words accounted for 7%, tone of voice for 38%, and body language for 55% of the message.

This study was unfortunately much maligned when people quoted it as claiming that these percentages held in any communication situation.

Nonetheless, the fact remains that much of your message can be transmitted without words. I had the pleasure yesterday evening of experiencing “Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares”, a Bulgarian choral concert in New York. One piece in particular struck me because, although we couldn’t understand a word they were singing, we felt as if we understood the entire song– a traditional comic piece from the area of Shope.

Through their facial expressions, voice tones, body languages, and significant pauses, the two women on stage had us rolling in the aisles with laughter–without the benefit of a single word.

 So the next time you’re in a conversation, you might want to focus less on finding the perfect words and more on the other part of your message– how much you “drink them in” with your eyes (a la Bill Clinton), what level of interest you communicate through your body language, your voice and your expressions.

 Of course, if you’re writing an email, it’s a whole ‘nother ball game…