Non-tech communication appears to be more effective than even old-tech systems like phone calls and emails.
Research done by imago and the Loughborough University School of Business and Economics examined the effectiveness of several communication forms with 779 respondents. It looked at how they retained important information, learned new skills and enhanced business success. The respondents were made up of conference and meeting organizers, as well as college students and academia.
Respondents ranked engagement during face-to-face meetings at an average of 85 percent – much higher than other forms of communication examined. The face-to-face encounters tended to be more effective mostly because body language helped support messages, the researchers found.
“In face-to-face meetings, our brains process the continual cascade of nonverbal cues that we use as the basis for building trust and professional intimacy,” writes Carol Kinsey Goman, an author and international business speaker. “Face-to-face interaction is information-rich. We interpret what people say to us only partially from the words they use. We get most of the message (and all of the emotional nuance behind the words) from vocal tone, pacing, facial expressions and body language. And we rely on immediate feedback – the instantaneous responses of others – to help us gauge how well our ideas are being accepted.”
People tend to remember much more of what they see than what they hear, which is why people tend to be more persuasive in face-to-face encounters too.
Touch is also an important element in these face-to-face encounters, research shows. People are twice as likely to remember you if you shake hands with them, according to a study on handshakes by the Income Center for Trade Shows.
The power of face-to-face interactions is crucial to business success, Goman notes: “If you want to be optimally persuasive, effective and memorable, make that meeting face-to-face.”
Source: “Why You Are More Successful in Face-to-Face Meetings,” Forbes (Oct. 25, 2015)
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