The controversy created by Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, for his use of an expletive in the Dail yesterday headlines all of the papers today.

Politicians, possibly more than any other group of communicators, know that they need to be aware of how they are coming across when they communicate, whether on the doorstep, on radio or on television, or on the televised debates from Leinster House.

Communication is about more than the words we use. In fact, most of communication is non-verbal, made up of body language (60%) and tone of voice (30%).

Yesterday’s exchanges in Dail Eireann between the new Taoiseach and the opposition were robust and the Taoiseach is not afraid of robust exchanges. Neither is the opposition. But the viewer watching TV bulletins last night would have seen a lot more than they heard of this style. Clearly, “what we say” has an impact. The overall impression of “the way that we say it” shouldn’t be forgotten either.