I sound like that???

It was Albert Mehrabian whose research famously concluded that 55% of a message’s impact comes from body language, 38% from vocal tone, and 7% from the words themselves.

If it’s true that 55% of your communication impact is neutralized because you’re on video (and nobody’s looking at you), then almost 40% of your message is based on your voice.

So basically, your ability to persuade and influence just got discounted…by a lot.

In The Sales Life, the words you use always matter. The "ums," "ya knows," and "wait, whats" stick out like a sore thumb. And they’re not unnoticed by buyers.

You can improve your verbal skills fairly quickly. The hard part is being willing to sit through a recording of yourself.

Today, record yourself in your pitch meetings and listen tonight when you’re at home…the shades are down…and your dog isn’t listening.

Write down the two or three items you need to clean up, e.g., "No garbage words," "Don’t interrupt," and/or "No ‘ummms’."

Last, work on enunciation as you study the "word of the day" on your Webster’s Dictionary app.

If Benedict Cumberbatch thought he’d get laughed at for his mispronunciation of "penguin," he most certainly would have taken a pass on providing the voice-over on the documentary.

This Short is funny….sorry, Benedict.