Mumbler+Activity

Mumblers
When it comes to communication it's surprising to learn that as little as 7 per cent of a communication's effectiveness can be attributed to words alone — with voice quality contributing 38 per cent and 'non verbals' providing the remaining 55 percent.

Most people won't believe you when you give them these figures — which kind of proves the point — so rather than trying to argue the point, try this exercise which is also a great deal of fun.

Divide the group into pairs and give one person in each pair a card with a simple task that they should communicate to their partner. Examples of the type of task would be: 'Close the door', 'Open the window', 'Scratch my back' etc.

They can communicate with each other any way they like — gestures, sounds, tone of voice — with the exception that they can't use recognisable words. The exercise finishes when the task has been completed.