Albert Mehrabian is considered to be a pioneer in the communication area. He was born in 1939 in the USA and what made him so famous is his work on the difference between verbal and non-verbal communication during the 1960's. He was the one propose the following figures (which Jan Hargrave talked about) :
-7% of the meaning of a message is given by spoken words
-38% is given by paralinguistic (the way we say things, the voice, the tone...)
-55% is given by facial expression
Of course these figures describe Mehrabian's work and cannot be generalized so easily even though they are often used in a very simplistic manner.
Mehrabian message is that understanding how to convey and interpret messages is essential but these figures do not fit all communication scenarios. Nowadays we use the e-mail and the phone very often and what Mehrabian wants to say is that greater care must be taken in the use of words in such situations.
You can learn more about Mehrabian's work in his personal website. Unfortunately Mahrabian articles are not free...
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