EDUCATIONAL FORUM

" The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something."

February 2009

Gestures and Body Movement  (The Do's and Don'ts)

Hand and arm gestures along with head and body movement and eye contact or the lack thereof can make or break your speech.  With the proper gestures you can take a good speech and enhance it into a great speech.

Let's start with head movement and eye contact.  You always want your audience to be drawn into your speech, you want them to get the feeling that you are talking to each of them alone.  To do that you need to make eye contact with each person for about 3 seconds, not only do you have to look at them, you need to turn your head in their direction.  It sounds simple, and it is, it only requires a little practice.  Another technique is to take a step in their direction, this will help you from pacing back and forth.  Make all your movements deliberate and with purpose.

Hand, arm and body gestures are also very important to your speech, they bring your speech to life.  They give your audience a sense of direction, past, present and future, right, wrong and neutral, size, color, and smell.  When not using your hands and arms leave them at your side.  Do not put your hands behind you, in your pockets or in front of you in what is referred to as the "fig leaf" position.  Also, do not hold your hands.

Do not lean on the lectern.  If using power point or flip charts, do not look at them and read them, stand to the side as to not block them from your audience.  Just point to each item and let the audience read them.  You can make comments about each point but remember, do not read them verbatim.

Now you are asking yourself, "how do I do all this".  The answer is simpler than you think.  Choreograph your speech!  Yes, your speech is like a dance, you are dancing with your audience, it's all showmanship and organization.

As you practice your speech also draw a floor plan, that's right a floor plan!  You want to know where you will be at any point during your speech, this also includes your hand gestures and other body movements.  Practice, practice, practice.

With practice you will be able to give that great speech you always wanted to give.

Al Gramando DTM

Agenda information Click Here

Return to Home Page                 Return to Educational Forum Index