*** I've decided to change some of the videos from previous posts because somehow, most of the videos turned private. -.- Have a look at the recently uploaded/updated ones! :) Also, since I've been blogging about music a lot lately, I've decided to go for a change today. It might be boring if you're not interested in theories and such. But I'm sharing anyway because it's interesting to me! :D ***
Some of you might have heard of Albert Mehrabian's theory of communication. Communication is based on three elements:
Words
Tone of voice
Nonverbal behaviour (E.g. Facial Expression, body language)
Here's a pie chart of how it looks like for visual understanding. It's based on the 7%-38%-55% rule.
It is also known as the "3 Vs" for Verbal, Vocal and Visual. So, how reliable is his theory?
It means that we use 55% of body language when communicating with others. We use body languages more than our voice/tone and words? Hmm. No wonder there are many arguments on this. Let's use different situations.
Firstly, these days, the world is so high tech and almost everyone is using hand phones (text messages) and email/fb/twitter/etc. to communicate right? With these, there's no voice/tone and there's no body language. Does that mean that these communication "devices" only convey 7% of the message across?
It may or may not be true.
Have you realised that we usually have misunderstandings due to communications through these "devices"? I sure do face loads of misunderstandings through these "devices". But does that mean only 7% is conveyed? Hmm.
Another thing, can you watch a person speaking in a foreign language and understand 93% of what they're talking about? As for me, I'm into Korean music and shows. That's pretty obvious I guess. Haha. So, when I watch their shows, I can listen to their voice/tone and also see their body languages. But the words that are being spoken, there's no way I can understand what they're talking about without English sub. So does that mean that I will understand 93% of what they're talking about since spoken words only consist of 7%? No, I usually don't. I might understand about 50-70% though. But definitely NOT 93%. If I can understand 93% of what they're talking about then I wouldn't need English sub. -.-
Okay I know it's a boring topic. Haha. To not make it that boring, here's a video. It's from a Korean variety show called "2 days and 1 night". Thanks to Hamie for recommending me this episode! :) Watch it and you are sure gonna laugh! If you don't find it funny, you're not human. Or at least for ladies, watch it because of our dear Lee Seung Gi. Hehe. But how does it relate to the topic? I'll explain later. But I seriously wanna play this game! It looks fun! :D
[ The video is no longer available :( ]
But! I found a new link to the video! So, you can still watch the game, starting from 04:00. (:
Incase you don't get how the game goes:
The first player will read what's written and try to pass the message across. The rest of the players are with headphones on, music blasting to their ears. The players can only observe body language (facial expressions, body movements). No spoken words, no voice/tone. So according to Professor Albert Mehrabian's theory, the players will be able to get 55% of the conveyed message. In the video, most of the messages are not successfully brought across. If it's 55%, I suppose at least half the time, the message should be brought across right? According to his theory that is. But no. Hmm but they at least got 1 right. And the players in the middle sometimes get it right but the last one got it wrong. So, it's hard. Haha.
That brings us to the last part, it's written somewhere that this theory isn't a general rule that you can transfer to any given communication situation. So it depends on the situation. I see I see. That explained I guess.
