One way to look at a speech is that it has three components -
the Visual, the Vocal, and the Verbal.

The Visual parts of your speech are “PEFGB” items – the posture, eye contact, facial expression, gestures, and body movement. If you watched a video tape of your speech but turned off the sound, that would be the Visual part – the “PEFGB” items.

The Vocal part of your speech is how you take those words and use them with your voice. You can speak loudly; you can speak softly; you can speak very quickly, or speak very slowly. You can talk with emotion and passion. If you listened to an audio tape of your speech and listened to just the sound of your voice, that would be the vocal part of your speech.

The Verbal part of your speech is just the words. If you printed your speech and handed it to the audience, that would be the verbal part.

Now, let’s do a quick survey.

1. What percentage of your time do you spend on the Visual part of your speech? Again, these are the “PEFGB” items - posture, eye contact, facial expression, gestures and body movement.
Write down your answer here. ___________________________

The average for most people and groups is 3%.

2. What percentage of your time do you spend on your voice –
things like vocal variety, inflection and pace, emotion, volume, and enthusiasm? I’m not talking about the time you spent memorizing your speech, but the time you spent on your vocal variety qualities.
Write down your answer here. ____________________________

The average for most people and groups is 2%.

So now, it’s not hard to figure out that 3% + 2% = 5%.

That means most people spend 95% of their time on the Verbal part of the speech or the words - just the way we were taught in school.

Dr. Albert Mehrabian wrote a book titled, “Silent Messages.” In his experiments, he found that the most important part of speech persuasion, feeling, and liking was overwhelmingly the VISUAL - the PEFGB items. It contributes 55% to the effectiveness of a message. Mehrabian found that the Vocal part of a speech contributes 38% and the Verbal, (the words) only 7%.

Here is his equation:

Total liking and feeling = 7% verbal _38% vocal + 55% facail.

Let’s talk about those three parts.

Most people spend 95% of their time on the words and yet it only accounts for 7% of the messages feeling and likability. That format is exactly what is taught in school, when we have to turn in a paper, so we naturally carry it over when we are called upon for a presentation.

The synopsis is - it's not so much what you say, but how you say it. This is not to say that the words are unimportant. What you have to say is important, but how you say those words, how you present those words, and how you appear visually as a speaker is much more important.

If people just wanted the words, they would have said, “Send me the information in the mail or send me an email.”
People want “YOU” – your feelings, your emotions, your personality.

People like the sizzle, the entertainment factor.
We’re constantly bombarded with ads for Pepsi and Coke which have nothing to do with the taste of the drink. Pepsi now has ads which are promoting a billion dollar giveaway! Now that’s sizzle.
On Coke’s web site it says, “From music to sports to entertainment, Coca-Cola has it covered.” The actual drink seems to be lost in the new marketing.

In your next speech, add the sizzle factor, and you’ll have a much better and more memorable presentation.