Sound Vs Light - Words vs Behavior

I had a walk in the morning at about 4 am and the street lights were off.After a while they suddenly switched on and illuminated the whole of Link Road.What happened after its illumination and further rumination of thoughts is what I shall describe ahead.

We all know that for our eyes to be able to see any object, light has to fall on it and has to reflect from the object to our eyes. After the road got illuminated I could see a tall man at a distance. I knew that if he tried to speak to me from there I would not be able to hear him. But trusting my visuals my mind had already made perceptions about him.He was slouched , in tattered clothes and walked in a zig zag manner. So before I could even properly see his face..his body language communicated to me that he was drunk and was poor.

That's all that happened at the road.What happened later really put my mind to work.

I could see the person coz light reflected from him to my eyes. Light travels at 3 X 10^8 m/s .

At the same time sound ,I have read in the 8th standard textbooks ,travels at 340 m/s.

So technically light is 8 x 10^5 times faster than sound..(^ means raised to the power of )

which brought to me to developing this new Philosophy

" What you speak, travels at the speed of sound,

   What you seem ,travels at the speed of light"

                                                                        ------© Ram Santosh

Body language suddenly made a lot of sense..

Albert Mehrabian (currently Professor Emeritus of Psychology, UCLA), has become known best by his publications on the relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages. His findings on inconsistent messages of feelings and attitudes say that

 

1.Our words comprise of only 7 % of the communication involved

2.Voice tone makes up for 38%   of communication

2.More than 55% communication comprises of gestures,emotions,feelings and attitude.

The simple logic that visuals are much faster than sound is enough to prove to us that people analyze our behavior first and our words later.

So no matter how good and qualified we are with our words if our actions aren't quality ..bad impressions are made..

Ralph Waldo Emerson's line:

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say" has had a huge impact on me and really made me think if the way I communicate is correct..

No one really cares how much u know until they know how much you care. So treat people well because that is what is seen .It is not only about how you look but about how you maintain a good attitude,a pleasant expression, wear that lovely smile, be warm towards people and be subtle with your gestures. because these travel faster and convey faster to the people than what you speak can convey

Of course good speech is important..but how you communicate non verbally has a larger impact..

So remember that you are seen , observed even before you speak .A good conversationalist or a charmer is one who uses all the forms of communication I.e Verbal, Vocal & Visual. aspects properly

Be good.Look Good.Be heard.