This is a communication rule created by Albert Mehrabian. The unnuanced explanation is that when we speak, communication is broken into three parts:
- Spoken (words) – 7%
- Tone – 38%
- Body language – 55%
Body language does the heavy lifting. That looks catastrophic for writers, doesn’t it?
It’s harder. But it’s possible to show body language in writing. Here are three ways:
Action Verbs
As the name implies, these are verbs that show action. For example, instead of “she was happy,” we could say, “she giggled with joy.” Those are two different images, aren’t they?
Dialogue Tags
This is a fancy term for the phrase that comes before dialogue in our writing. So, we could write: He said, “Knock it off.” But. To add some body language: He lowered his voice, gritted his teeth, am mumbled through his pursed lips, “Knock it off.” Visions of my childhood just flashed before my eyes.
Show, Don’t Tell
Instead of telling the reader about the emotion, show it with your words. If we tell them “the team was excited,” they get it. But showing them with an illustration, “the team danced around the room screaming and high-fiving,” they feel it.
It’s not a one-for-one exchange. But then, our written words can be more precise, powerful, and prolific. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯