I've been duped.
For years I have unthinkingly accepted the statistic that '93% of the meaning of a spoken message is non-verbal'. I first heard it many years ago, in a presentation by a guy making his case for good tonal/physical delivery - and have heard and repeated it many times since.
But of course, it's utter crap.
This video - a couple of years old now, but deserving of more views - makes the point nicely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dboA8cag1M#!
Even the guy who is allegedly being quoted (Professor Mehrabian) has dismissed it on record:
whenever I hear that misquote of my findings I cringe because it should be obvious to anybody who would use any amount of common sense that that's not a correct statement
Not sure why I ever fell for it in the first place. Must have been the way the guy was speaking.
http://dailypicksandflicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Confused-Man.jpg