From the course: Nano Tips to Enhance Your Communication with Shadé Zahrai

Aligning delivery and intention

From the course: Nano Tips to Enhance Your Communication with Shadé Zahrai

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Aligning delivery and intention

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We are social creatures and we actually communicate on two different levels. Most people think it's just verbal and non-verbal, but it's actually much more complicated than that. The first level is a basic mechanics of communication; verbal and nonverbal, including what we say, how we say it, and our body language. The second level is our intentions, and we gauge this by reading the subtle nuances in the facial expressions of the person communicating. In a study by University of Miami, Professor Merida's Burrow, she compared a group that received positive feedback, but with negative facial expressions like frowns and narrowed eyes with a second group that received negative feedback, but with positive facial expressions like nods and smiles. And guess what? The first group that received positive feedback, but with negative facial expressions felt worse about their performance than those who received negative feedback with positive facial expressions. This tells us that the delivery was more important than the message itself. So when it comes to how you communicate, be aware of your intent. This is foundational to social intelligence because your intent impacts your facial expressions and this can change how your message is perceived.

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