Rule of Personal Communication
The 7–38–55 rule is something that has been explained over and over and over. Albert Mehrabian’s 7–38–55 Rule of Personal Communication is something that has been shared and examined and taught frequently.
At first, I was quite surprised that it is split up the way that it is. Then, I made an intentional effort to look to recognize it in others and in myself.
Wow.
I said on Tuesday that one of the most important things is to determine whether something is necessary to share. Well, if it is necessary to say something unkind, this is where I believe the 7–38–55 rule comes into play.
I’m sure that most of us have seen a situation like the following:
You are shopping at the grocery store and pushing your cart through the dairy section. You notice that in front of you there is a young woman with her arms crossed facing away from you. As you get closer to the items that you need, you realize her foot is tapping and she is speaking loudly, it seems she is speaking somewhat aggressively too. Then, you notice a young child, they can’t be but 4 or 5, they look scared. Crawled up on the floor next to a broken carton of eggs. Then this happens, the child looks at you and the Mother does too, but the Mother is glaring in your direction. Her arms are still folded, her foot is still tapping loudly, what…
