When we want to become better at getting our ideas across, it can be helpful to understand the tools we have available. Communicating is more than just the words we say but this is where most people focus when they want to be a more effective communicator at work. But, we can also improve how we communicate information to become better messengers. The three Vs of communication is a much-discussed way to help us think about this.
What are the three Vs of Communication?
The 3Vs of Communication model was introduced by Albert Mehrabian, Ph.D., based on his research about communicating feelings and attitudes when people speak. He found that we have three distinct areas that influence how people perceive our messages: VISUAL, VOCAL, and VERBAL.
Mehrabian found the VISUAL cues we portray through our body language can be one of the largest factors that influence how an audience perceives what is said. This includes eye contact, gestures, and the energy we bring to a presentation. Another important component is our VOCAL cues, which includes volume, intonation, pace and other elements that factor how people hear the words someone speaks. Finally, the third piece in Mehrabian’s model is VERBAL, which relates to the content and words used.
The main message to take away is that giving a successful presentation at work is much more than the words used or slides shared. Improving our visual and vocal cues can really influence our ability to deliver our messages to our audiences and help us achieve our business goals.
Visual: Strengthening Our Body Language When Presenting
Audiences pick up a lot of information from our body language. We need to ensure the way we come across reinforces the words we say.
Examples of visual cues we can think about include:
- Eye contact – Maintain good eye contact with your audience to help connect with the group.
- Hand gestures – Use your hands to naturally emphasize important points as you speak.
- Facial expressions – Pay attention to your facial expressions and make sure you are showing interest for the topic while striking the appropriate tone. For example, if you are giving a budget update, you will likely use serious expressions. Conversely, if you are talking to a prospective client about your business at a networking event, smiling can help show your friendliness and passion.
- Posture – Use good posture when you are speaking to a group. When sitting, try to sit forward in the chair instead of leaning against the back. Check out Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk about power posing if you want to try it and see what results you have.
- Walking – When standing in front of a group, consider walking to different areas of the room a couple times while speaking to help engage the entire room.
Vocal: Improving How We Sound When Speaking
At the same time, we need to factor in how we sound. We want to speak in a way that makes it easy for our audiences to hear and understand what we want to share.
Elements that influence how we come across vocally include:
- Volume – We want to make sure each person in the group can hear us. When presenting online, try to find a room that limits potentially distracting background noise that you would need to speak over. Depending on the situation, you may want to use a microphone, especially in a larger space.
- Intonation – The pitch of our voice moves from a lower to a higher note naturally as we speak. For example, we generally end on a higher note when asking a question. Using a varied pitch when presenting at work can help us keep our audiences interested and helps us emphasize different points. (If you struggle with consistently ending sentences on a higher pitch, check out our article for more advice on presenting your ideas confidently.)
- Pace – How quickly we speak can also impact whether our audiences understand what we say. If you tend to speak faster when presenting because of nerves, try to take a few deep breaths before starting. Practice slowing down by saying your presentation out loud a few times in advance. Consider asking a colleague to listen to you give your presentation so you have practice saying the words in front of someone.
- Pauses – Pausing during our work presentations helps us to take a breath and collect our thoughts. It also helps our audiences have some space to think about what we say. Incorporate pauses strategically, such as after rhetorical questions or after making one of your main points.
Verbal: Tailoring Our Content to Our Audiences
The third element in the model refers to the actual content that we share with our audiences. VERBAL refers to the words we use to communicate our ideas.
Factors that we should consider in our content include:
- Expertise – Work in relevant details at the appropriate times to help reinforce credibility and authority for our audiences. For example, it might help to share that you concluded your point based on your experience working on the project for the last two years. Or, perhaps you applied the latest techniques and best practices to the analysis of data that you learned after completing a new certification. If you are pitching a potential new customer, you might share how long you have been in business, positive reviews you have received in the past, or the experienced team that will be working with them.
- Main message – Define the one key takeaway for your audience and mention it several times throughout the talk. What is the one thing you want the group to remember after your presentation is done? What is the action you want them to take on this information?
- Supporting messages – Share a few proof points that help explain or reinforce your main message. This might include the relevant data or information used to form the main conclusion if appropriate. It might also be a few “reasons to believe” the main message.
- Responding to audience questions – Audience questions are a great way to clarify points that are confusing to our audience. Additionally, audience questions help us pivot during our presentations in case we need to spend time on other topics that will help us support our main message.
Putting It All Together for Strong Business Communications
Ultimately, VISUAL, VOCAL and VERBAL are three areas that help us to establish an emotional connection with our audiences. This is critical because your audience needs to trust us and find us credible so we can make our case and convince them to act on the information shared.
Since these are what help inform the overall impression that the audience will remember about us long after we speak, we need to plan our presentation with each of these in mind. This also makes a great checklist of items we can practice on to improve our presentations at work in time.
Take Action
So, how do we use this? Pick two or three of the different factors outlined here to work on in the next 30 days. Ask a trusted colleague or friend to give you feedback at the end and make plans for further improvements.
