Speaking versus Reading? Speaking wins

• Trends
• December 4, 2017
• by Merrie Spaeth

Here’s a news flash. If you talk to someone who disagrees with your ideas, if they can hear your voice, your inflection, maybe the passion you feel for the topic, they are likely to listen more carefully and think more highly of your reasoning. If you send them a text or an email, so they just read your words, they are likely to be much more critical of you as a person. Don’t just take my word for it. It’s the finding of a scholarly article in Psychological Science by Juliana Schroeder, of the University of California at Berkeley and faculty at the University of Chicago. She’s primarily focused on the impact on political debate today, noting “In some ways, technology is making more of our interactions text-based.” Schroeder found that this increases polarized debate and dehumanization of those we disagree with. But the implications go far beyond politics. Job applicants who can talk to or submit video of themselves are rated much more favorably than applicants who only had text submissions. Surely this is of interest to your corporate leadership and to your Human Resources staff charged with professional development.