Ever heard the cliche that it doesn't matter what you say, it's how you say it? It turns out that there may actually be some truth in that adage.

Buried deep in a Boston Globe story today about German charlatan Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who duped people into believing that he was a Rockefeller and an accomplished businessman, is mention of a study which suggests that how a message is delivered is far more important than what it says.

MIT scientist Alex Pentland outfitted a group of entrepreneurs who were pitching investors for money with what he called "sociometers." These devices measure the pitch and cadence of the subject's voice, which direction they're facing, and how many people are near them.

After testing the sociometers on several entrepreneurs pitching business executives, Pentland found in subsequent tests that he could actually predict which ideas the investors would like based on the data from the sociometer alone. Translation: the entrepreneurs' speech patterns and other factors (like whether they were facing the crowd) actually made them more, or in some cases, less, likely to secure funding from investors. Mimicry—speaking in the same tone and cadence as the person you're speaking with, for instance—appeared to be one of the most powerful positive determinants of whether an entrepreneur managed to interest the investors.

Unfortunately these signals, which Pentland calls "honest signals," are nearly impossible to fake (unless you're a German charlatan). And what's more, even if you're the most gregarious, likeable entrepreneur out there, that still won't inspire a VC to invest in your idea for an all-in-one food dehydrator/rotisserie/easy bake oven. Although this data—and people like Gerhartsreiter who tricked intelligent people into believing he was a finance expert when he no experience in the field—does provide some compelling evidence that if you deliver your pitch the right way, even a so-so concept could get noticed.