During my travels this last month of August, I heard an incredible mix of languages spoken.  Every country or capital that I traveled through, I witnessed people verbally conversing and interacting. Unusual sound waves filled the air with a crazy blend of vowels and consonants. Do you know, it is estimated that there are between 5000 and 7000 languages in the world and that statistic depends on who is counting and whether they include dialects!

Some nights, my head was filled with a mumbo jumbo cocktail of verbal acoustics. And I thought, how do all these people communicate with each other? How do they convey the basics, never mind more intimate topics.
Then, it hit me. It’s easy! When we want something and we can’t speak the local language what do we do ? We begin to use our hands, facial expressions, our eyes, even some mime. In fact, what ever other part of our physical being we can incorporate that can express our needs, feelings and thoughts.

How amazing is that? When we really really want something, we use physical gestures to emphasise our requests. Yes, even more inhibited types! Eat Your Heart Out Tower of Babel!

Language is one of our most popular communicating tools and it has always been enhanced by our eyes, our hands, our posture and movements. Even in texts and tweets, we dress up our words with emojis and punctuation marks.

– Body language is a very powerful tool. We had body language before we had speech, and apparently,  80% of what you understand in a conversation is read through the body and not the words  – Deborah Bull – Dancer, writer and broadcaster.

It is interesting to observe that many of us are impressed when we hear someone speak with energy. When we feel their words through their bodies, and our senses are heightened by their physical expression of their message, pitch or story.
How can we get some of that charismatic stuff?
What can we do to mix it into our stories?

Here is my recipe.

–Be playful with your language, whether it is written or spoken. Add some spice to your vocabulary.
–Be brave, shuffle and conjure up new phrases, cook up another colloquialism Why not? The Oxford dictionary has added 500 words this last year. The Merriam and Webster dictionary are asking for new phrases, senses and words. Language is constantly growing and evolving, and so is the body language that it accompanies.
–Keep that vacation vibe. Let your fingers and hands do some more talking! Let your body suggest a mood, give off a sign and never forget your magic smile!

And, Eat Your Heart Out Tower of Babel, the tower to heaven wasn’t completed and different languages spread across the world…but we still keep on communicating using language and physical movements.

On the video this week, I shall be sharing some more tips and stories about how to combine your mental and physical energies when you speak and write.

If you want to develop your unique writing and speaking skills, head on over to my course page and find yourself an offer you can’t refuse!

N.B All the builders working on the Tower of Babel were proud men who couldn’t talk to each other even with the same language!