Myths and Misconceptions

Well there are lots of these, but let's just take one of the commonest. You may have heard some numbers referring to the percentage of our communication that is contributed by body language (usually said to be around 70%), voice (about 6-7%) and the actual words (about 6%). Approximately so. This is all based on a misunderstanding or mis-quoting. Back in the early 1970s Albert Mehrabian published work on the relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages but focussing on communication of feelings and attitudes,  i.e. whether the listener liked or disliked the person who was communicating. When the verbal and non-verbal information were incongruent, the non-verbal was most likely to guide the listeners judgement of the person talking.
Some refs:

• Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent messages. Wadsworth, Belmont, California.
• Mehrabian, A. (1981). Silent messages: Implicit communication of emotions and attitudes (2nd ed.). Wadsworth, Belmont, California.
• Mehrabian, A. (1972). Nonverbal communication. Aldine-Atherton, Chicago, Illinois.

There's a great summary here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Mehrabian#Misinterpretation_of_Mehrabian.27s_rule

So the numbers are not so useful! But what is important is the fact that we DO trust body-language more than words. I don't listen to what you say, I watch what you do. And signalling different things with words and body is at least going to stress listeners (I've read that this is the commonest cause of stress in communication or work situations. Maybe). Don't stand in front of an audience shaking in your boots and say "It's really great to be here today".