87% of communication is nonverbal. I just made this statistic up, and you’ll find all sorts of sources giving a figure anywhere from 60% to 95%. All the same, the notion behind it is very true: the actual words of your arguments are not the only players when it comes to getting your point across. Human beings respond to many different cues, and you should use the full arsenal of emotive choices that can help to deliver your point.
Most immediately tied to your words is the tone of your voice. It is the easiest way for someone to pick up what you are feeling and can also be useful in emphasizing certain aspects of your argument you want emphasized – such as when making a comparative argument and you want to highlight a certain aspect of comparison as important. Second of all come facial expressions – show your emotions on your face as they come. Express your anger, disbelief, hurt, excitement, humor and so on, being careful, of course, not to let them run out of control.
Use gestures as well to emphasize certain points and to add some drama to your performance, using such techniques as counting out pros and cons on your hands to emphasize numbers or pointing to things in around you that illustrate your point, be it by analogy or direct relevance. And finally, also use touch where appropriate. Touch denotes friendliness and caring, ad can also serve to calm an opponent who is starting to get too worked up.
