Here is a scenario you may be able to relate to...
Your partner accuses you of something incorrectly, it is likely they have misunderstood. You try to explain yourself, but they insist you are to blame. You become indignant, your emotions start to boil, and your tone of voice and body language demonstrate how you are feeling. Your partner interprets this as a sign of guilt and says something like “why would you be getting so defensive if you didn’t do it?”
It’s a vicious circle and the problem is twofold; on our side we need to manage our emotions better. This will help us control our tonality and body language so that it’s less likely we’ll be perceived as being defensive. The other party, however, is just as complicit in creating this vicious circle because they are reading the wrong signs. And that is what I want to discuss in today’s blog…
In 2021 a quantitative analysis team from Nomura analysed the language used in earnings calls of publicly listed companies. They analysed the complexity of vocabulary used by senior executives when presenting the data and mapped the correlation with the stock market performance of the company’s shares. The results were fascinating. They showed a strong correlation between complex language being used during earnings calls and underperformance of index. Conversely, where simple language was used, the company shares significantly outperformed index.
In simple language, if you have something to hide you will tend to take refuge in longer words and more convoluted sentences. The implication of this is that when you doubt someone, also consider the complexity (or simplicity) of their response rather than only the emotional content demonstrated by tonality and body language.
As a caveat, I would like to mention that no single piece of data (tonality, body language, vocabulary complexity etc..) should be taken in isolation, it is important to consider communication holistically. However, by being aware of additional dimensions such as vocabulary complexity, your ability to read a given response more accurately, whether from your partner in life or in a business negotiation, will be increased.
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