Episode 706 - It Makes a Difference

In episode 706 of Monday Morning Mojo, Phil dives into the subtle yet powerful world of nonverbal communication. From the tone of our voice to the clothes we wear and the content we post online, Phil unpacks how we’re constantly sending messages, whether we mean to or not. Drawing on insights from Seth Godin, a country music lyric, and his own travel habits, he challenges us to think critically about the signals we give off in both our personal and professional lives. This episode is a thoughtful nudge to align your presence, spoken and unspoken, with the impact you want to make. Give it a listen and ask yourself: what are you really communicating?

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Transcript

Top performers in every field surround themselves with those who inspire them, who seek to build them up, and who push them to reach beyond their current limits. I’m Phil Buchanan, executive chairman of Cannon Financial Institute. I designed Monday Morning Mojo to provide you with a weekly spark, a push and motivational insight to live your best life. Thanks for joining.

Hello Cannon Nation. It is Phil here with episode 706 of Monday Morning Mojo. When we communicate, we know that words matter. But ironically, tonation of the words we use matters just a bit more. How we deliver the message has greater communication power than just the words themselves.

Think about it this way. When we read written words, we do so in our own voice, and hopefully we do so without quote unquote, reading too much into the meaning behind the words. Think about it. Who among us hasn't misinterpreted an email or a text message because we read something into the message that wasn't intended

Yet, it is when someone speaks to us, we get the added benefit of their tone and inflection. We listen for the emphasis and cadence as these combined with the words help to clarify the context and meaning. Delivery matters. Yet, science shows us that what really influences the thoughts and beliefs of others are found in our nonverbal communication.

Pretty much everything we do non-verbally still communicates something. And it often communicates very loudly. Seth Godin is one of my favorite bloggers. He has a daily email that is comprised of just a few sentences, but his messages hit me just right. He recently sent out a missive entitled “Orange Cars”.

He noted that there are few orange cars on the road. It is not because the color orange isn't available. It's in most folks’ color palette. It is simply that car owners realize that they would be sending a message with both the type of car that they drive and the color of the car they drive. Perhaps it's few wish to send whatever message would be sent by driving around in an orange car.

Let's take the medical community and the wealth management community. Both are industries, if you will, used by consumers for care, wellness issues and advice. Skilled practitioners in both respective industries must possess deep intellect along with elite, interpersonal and communication skills. But just as important as the degrees and backgrounds of these professionals are in communicating their skills and values, the clients and patients of these professionals are constantly observing the non-verbal communications being given off.

Imagine going into a doctor's office on a normal day to find that the physician is dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops. Now, if you had a history with a doctor, this might not be all together off-putting. If, however, this was your first visit with that physician, your level of concern and anxiety would likely spike.

When I travel, I always wear a jacket and a collared shirt. I am usually in the minority. In fact, it's clear. Many travelers give relatively little thought as to how they dress when they travel. I choose to always wear a jacket because I wish to first look nice, but. I also realize that it communicates something to those with whom I'll interact on the trip.

On a typical trip I'll encounter, well, let's think about it. TSA security ticket agents, gate agents, pilots, flight attendants, uber drivers, hotel clerks, restaurant greeters, and waiters. These are all people who are observing mostly my nonverbal communication. They are using their perceptions and historical encounters to make an assessment of me, and this will influence how they initially interact with me.

I want others to always have the best leading perception of me that is absolutely possible. Experience has taught me that in dressing a little nicer, I earn a better travel experience than those who are less concerned with attire. Now, critics will stomp and scream that appearances shouldn't matter, but they absolutely do.

Another area of our lives that communicates very loudly a nonverbal messaging is our digital presence online. What we choose to post and or promote conveys a lot more than just the message itself. This morning I looked at two different wealth management firms websites.

The lead stories on each told me a lot about the experience clients would likely have respectively with the two organizations. The first organization had an article in very small type from their wealth strategist, and in that article the strategist went into deep detail on the likely impact of the new tax bill. The second website featured a picture of the business's leader and his wife from a recent vacation with an attached article highlighting the lessons learned from 12 days they had spent in Europe.

It highlighted the importance of pre-trip research and planning the importance of immersing oneself in local culture. The importance of taking time within the trip to become fully rested, and finally, the value of ensuring that you learn something every day on the trip. Now both of these businesses are successful.

There's a little question about that, but in choosing the stories that they promote at the top of their respective websites, they were clearly communicating the type of firm they want to be for the clients they serve. Back in the 1980s country music superstar, Keith Whitley released a hit song entitled “When You Say Nothing at All”.

It's a love ballot and it celebrates actions of love over simple words. The last line of the chorus goes “Now you say it best when you say nothing at all”. Whitley was emphasizing that love is communicated best by nonverbals versus simple. I love you and I think everyone who is in love or has been in love will validate the power in that message.

As part of your process, I challenge you to routinely examine all aspects of your personal and business life and ask a simple question, what am I communicating? Because you are communicating something. Make sure it's what you intend.

Monday Morning Mojo is a production of Cannon Financial Institute; executive producer of Monday Morning Mojo is Sarah Jones. Editing and mixing is done by Danny Brunner. Until next time, I'm Phil Buchanan reminding you to be a force for good. Have a great week, and thanks for being part of the Mojo community.