Chalmers 1

Landry Chalmers

EAE4U

Assignment 4

July 5 2022

Is what we say more important than how we say it?

Many people think that what we say is more important than how we say it, but it is

not. In fact, it is the complete opposite. How we say something is much more important than

what we say, because our volume, our tone, and our body language can affect the way others

perceive our words.

Firstly, the comprehension of our words can majorly depend on our volume. For

example, there is a video online of a man speaking to his dog. At first, he tells his dog that he

loves her, but he yells the words. Next, he says very mean things to his dog, but he says them

in a normal volume. (Youtube) When the man raises his volume with the dog, the loving

words he shouts don’t matter. The dog thinks he’s mad because he’s shouting, so she gets

scared and backs away. Contrarily, when the man speaks normally but says terrible things

about his dog, she bounces over to him happily and wags her tail. Despite the fact that he is

saying mean things about her, the dog thinks that it is positive because he is speaking

normally. This demonstrates that the volume in which we speak can affect the way our words

are perceived, even when speaking to a dog.

Second of all, our tone can affect the way people understand our words. “Your tone of

voice can give people a better understanding of what you really mean because it shows how

you feel.” (Voice Talent Now) Our tone of voice can help convey emotion and intention, so

what we say is irrelevant if we don’t adjust our tone to the words we are speaking. Our tone

of voice is what people respond to, so for example, a compliment could be interpreted to be

negative if our tone is condescending, sarcastic or rude. In the opposite sense, an insult could
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be taken to mean something kind if our tone is bright and cheerful. The words we speak are

irrelevant if our tone of voice doesn’t match, so tone can certainly affect the way words are

perceived.

Finally, body language can have a huge effect on the perception of our words. Our

posture, eye-contact, gestures and other movements can all send strong messages, and these

messages can affect the way people view what we say. For example, if someone asks a

question and a person says yes but shakes their head no, their body language is conveying

something different than what they're saying. Then, the listener must decide whether they

choose to listen to what they say or what their body language is saying. According to Help

Guide, “since body language is a natural, unconscious language that broadcasts true feelings

and intentions, they’ll likely choose the nonverbal message.” (Help Guide) In this way, body

language is important because it can affect how someone perceives our words.

All in all, volume, tone and body language are all key aspects in communication. The

way we utilize these three tools can transform and morph the meaning of a sentence into

something completely different. Thus, how we say something is much more important than

what we say.
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Works Cited

Lickerman, Alex. “The Importance of Tone”. Psychology Today. August 5th 2010.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/happiness-in-world/201008/the-importance-tone.

Consulted July 5th 2022. Website.

Segal, Jeanne. “Nonverbal Communication and Body Language”. Help Guide.

October 2020.https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/nonverbal

-communication.htm. Consulted July 5th 2022. Website.

The TikTok Guru. “Funny dog TikTok”. Youtube. March 27th 2020.

https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=aaMq0YlzSsw. Consulted July 5th 2022. Video.

Voice Talent Now. “The Science Behind Tone : How Speaking Tone Affects

Communication and Understanding”. Voice Talent Now. October 21st 2019. https://www.

voicetalentnow.com/public/blog.aspx?ID=1079&Title=The%20Science%20Behind

%20Tone:%20How%20Speaking%20Tone%20Affects%20Communication%20and

%20Understanding. Consulted July 5th 2022. Website.