Are you committed to communicating at your highest potential?

Personalised video applications are one of the most valuable coaching and communication tools. Here's the why, the how and the what of great 1:1 personalised video (including a 12-point checklist)

“Body language and tone of voice - not words - are our most powerful assessment tools.”

Chris Voss

[So, you’ve read Become an Authoritative Coach and you want to know what to do next? This article is a chapter in the “What now?” series. Read more chapters from this series.]

Hey coach,

How often do you take an email out of context?

How often are your emails misunderstood?

How often do email threads get completely out of control?

How often do you find yourself, your team and your clients making assumptions about the DMs they have received?

It’s happening all the time, right?

And the reason is because when it comes to written communication we’re only using 7% of our ability to communicate!

So, if that’s true, what makes up the other 93%?

Well, a further 38% is allocated to HOW we say those words.

What you should be thinking about here is words (7%) + tone (38%) = using the telephone (45%). I can hear you, but I can’t see you. So, even at this point, over half of your ability to communicate effectively is lost.

The rest, the other 55%, is allocated to our non-verbal communication. Our body language.

This is known as the 7/38/55 rule.

In that, if we want to communicate at our highest potential and maximise our opportunity to influence our clients we have to communicate using all three factors - words, tone, and body language.

Of course, what that used to mean years ago was that to communicate at our highest potential, we had to turn up in person with our clients.

However, in 2023 and beyond, we have new inexpensive and easy-to-use video messaging tools - Loom, Vidyard and Soapbox, to name a few - that we can use to help us communicate more effectively.

The 7/38/55 rule summary:

• 7% of our communication is made up of the words we choose to use. Think: Email.

• 38% of our communication is made up of how we say those words. Think: Phone

• 55% of our communication is made up of non-verbal and body language. Think: Video/in-person.

If we are committed to communicating at our highest potential, we must be open to using the tools that allow us to do so.

But your clients won’t watch them (and you don’t have the time, anyway…right?)

Over the years I have sent literally thousands of my own videos to clients, and I’ve probably reviewed in the region of 400-500 from other professionals.

Now, there are many reasons why people get blocked with video, but two of the most important are:

• My clients won’t watch them

• I don’t have the time

Let’s deal with these individually.