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It’s a well-known fact that body language conveys a large portion of the tone and meaning in our speech. Consider texting: without a winking emoticon, it would be much harder to tell if a text was sarcastic. With our bodies, we can add meaning and excitement to any lesson.
Most of us use gestures instinctively, and they add just a bit of meaning and tone to our speech. But, to really influence and teach people, we need to actively practice our gestures. A good place to start is to get comfortable with these four simple types:
1. Gestures outside of the frame of your body.
These gestures are BIG. Get your shoulders moving, and toss your arms out wide. When you convey a big idea, show how big it is with your arms and chest raised high. If you do this right, you can take up the listener’s whole field of vision, and they can’t help but pay attention to what you have to say. Be excited, and let your listener share in that excitement.
2. Gestures within the frame of your body.
These gestures are small. After a big gesture, bring things into focus. Use your hands right in front of your chest, lower your voice slightly, and draw in the listener’s attention. These gestures are great for conveying detail, and making the listener lean in close.
3. Numbers on your fingers.
Now that the listener is leaning in and paying attention, use your fingers to show the total number of points you want to make before you dive into your topic. In general, people pay attention best to two or three points. With each point you make, show its number. People react faster to what they see than to what they hear, so your fingers will jog their memory.
4. Miming.
Finally, between your points, use your hands to mime props and shapes. This is the most abstract and difficult type of gesture to master, but it is also the most powerful. After numbering a point, you can introduce the point as a pretend object: a ball, a box, a stick, or any other simple metaphor that will add life to your speech. Play with the imaginary object by twisting, turning, and shaping it according to what you say. By showing the listener a mimed prop, you give them a physical representation of your words to picture and to remember.
As with all things, these techniques take practice. Get each type of gesture in your body language vocabulary, then start stringing them together. Soon enough, you’ll be saying just as much with your hands as with your words.
