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March 28, 2006
Dance like nobody's watching?
We learned in news reports today that a NFL committee is considering new restrictions on the end zone celebration known as the “touchdown dance.” Things have gotten out of hand, it seems, in this expression of victory. Few would dispute that some of today’s touchdown dances look like dropped numbers from the latest Michael Flatley extravaganza.
Dance itself has been used to communicate across the years and across the species. Think of a bee’s “pollen dance,” or a toddler’s “potty dance.” Both communicate critical information without using words. A touchdown dance, though? Little more than “nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah.”
Perhaps it’s the understanding of how the nonverbal communication reinforces the verbal. Think of Elvis, and the consternation he caused for the cameramen who were limited in filming this singer from the waist up. Remember Steve Ballmer, putting his all into pepping up his Microsoft posse. Think of that guy across the table, and the little shiver that coursed through you as he leaned over the table, hooked on whatever it was you were saying at the time.
Nonverbals, whether manifested in raised eyebrows, hunched shoulders, or tapping fingers, are powerful weapons -- ones that we maybe even under-utilize in the business world. It’s a shame that we’re damned to spend time and money reminding those professionals on the field to use them discriminately. How could you harness the power of the nonverbal for a boardroom victory?
Posted by Sarah Voigt at March 28, 2006 3:21 PM