Beyond the actual words that you say, audiences receive information from a speech through two nonverbal channels of communication: the aural and the visual. The aural channel consists of the vocalizations that form and accompany spoken words. These vocalizations, or paralanguage, include the qualities of volume, pitch, rate, variety, and pronunciation and articulation described in Chapter 18. Paralanguage refers to how something is said, not to what is said. Audience members simultaneously use their eyes (the visual channel) to evaluate messages sent by the speaker’s physical appearance and body language—facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures, and general body movement.

Research confirms the importance of paying attention to aural and visual cues both during delivery of a speech and when listening to one. One study suggests that when speakers talk about their feelings and attitudes, the audience derives a mere 7 percent of the speaker’s meaning from the words they utter. The balance comes from the speaker’s nonverbal communication: 38 percent from the speaker’s voice, and 55 percent from the speaker’s body language and appearance.¹