BODY LANGUAGE SERIES - THE HANDSHAKE

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In 1971, a book called Silent Messages was published. In this book the author, Albert Mehrabian, concluded that people based a salesperson's credibility on factors other than the words the salesperson said. The argument that was made was that 55% of a salesperson's body language and 38% of the tone of the salesperson's voice determined whether the salesperson was credible. Only 7% was assigned to actual words that were said. Think about that. The argument is that 93% of your communication is non-verbal. As a professional procurement person, I'm not sure I agree it's that high, but in my experience, it's definitely greater than 50%!

So what does this mean for you as a negotiation professional? It means that mastering your body language and non-verbals is a discipline that cannot be understated. In my experience there are 7 body language (which according to our friend Albert, represents 55% of communication) skills that you MUST pay attention to and that you MUST work on to improve your negotiations. This post is the first of 7 that will focus on the key body language skills you need to excel at negotiations.

This series will cover:

1. The Handshake
2. Posture and Seating
3. Head Tilting
4. Eye Blinking
5. Eye Movement
6. Hand Use
7. Clothing

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