Nonverbal communication

Whether it is called intuition or just good judgment, the ability to perceive and to use nonverbal cues to one’s advantage gives the business person the power and the skill to be more successful. T.S. Eliot wrote in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, “There will be time, there will be time / To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.” Perhaps he meant that those in business must be prepared in such a way as to make their face agree with the message that the consumer expects to receive. The communication experts agree that when two people have a face-to-face conversation only a small fraction of the total message they share is actually contained in the words they use. A portion of the message is contained in the tone of voice, accent, speed, volume, and inflection. However, approximately 93 percent of it is understood through nonverbal communication behaviors (Source needed).