Most actors learn—often the hard way—that if you want to steal a scene from someone, all you have to do is move around, develop a twitch, or swing a leg. Before long, all eyes will be focused on that movement. This theatrical trick shows that physical movement sometimes can attract more attention than words. All the more reason that your words and gestures should work in harmony and not at cross-purposes. This also means that you should avoid random movements, such as pacing back and forth, twirling your hair, rubbing your eyes, or jingling change in your pockets. Once you are aware of such mannerisms, it is easy to control them.
Your gestures and movement should grow out of your response to your material.28 They should always appear natural and spontaneous, prompted by your ideas and feelings. They should never look contrived or artificial. For example, you should avoid making a gesture to fit each word or sequence of words you utter. Perhaps every speech instructor has encountered speakers like the one who stood with arms circled above him as he said, “We need to get around this problem.” That’s not a good way to gesture!
Effective gestures involve three phases: readiness, execution, and return. In the readiness phase, you must be prepared for movement. Your hands and body should be in a position that does not inhibit free action. For example, you cannot gesture if your hands are locked behind your back or jammed into your pockets, or if you are grasping the lectern as though it were a life preserver. Instead, let your hands rest in a relaxed position either at your sides, on the lectern, or in front of you, where they can easily obey the impulse to gesture in support of a point you are making. As you execute a gesture, let yourself move naturally and fully. Don’t raise your hand halfway, then stop with your arm frozen awkwardly in space. When you have completed a gesture, let your hands return to the relaxed readiness position, where they will be free to move again when the next impulse to gesture arises.
Do not assume that there is a universal language of gesture. A study of Rwandan culture reveals that Rwandans learn an elaborate code of gestures that is a direct extension of their spoken language.29 In contrast, our “gesture language” is far less complex and sophisticated. Even more, assuming a universal language of gesture could get you in big trouble with a culturally diverse audience. For example, the American sign for A-OK (thumb and index finger joined in a circle) has an obscene meaning in some cultures, and nodding the head up and down may mean “no” instead of “yes.”3° Management consultant Marc Hequet provides additional insight:
The “Hook ‘em, Horns!” hand signal beloved of fans who follow the fortunes of the University of Texas Longhorns college football team once started a brawl in a crowded Italian nightclub when Texans at
separate tables merrily flashed each other the sign—hand raised, middle fingers held down by thumb, index and pinky extended. The innocents didn’t know it but in Italy the gesture is referred to as cuckold
horns, It means, “Your wife is being unfaithful.”
From proxemics, the study of how humans use space during communication, we can derive two additional principles that help explain the effective use of movement during speeches. The first of these principles suggests that the physical distance between speakers and listeners affects their sense of closeness or immediacy. Bill Clinton made effective use of this principle during the second of the televised debates of the 1992 presidential campaign. In the town meeting setting of that debate, Clinton actually rose from his seat after one question and approached the audience as he answered it. His movement towards his listeners suggested that he felt a special closeness for that problem and for them. Clinton’s body language also enhanced his identification with the live audience and with the larger viewing audience they represented. In contrast, his opponents, President Bush and Ross Perot, were made to seem distant from these audiences.
It follows also that the greater the physical distance between speaker and audience, the harder it is to achieve identification. This problem gets worse when a lectern acts as a physical barrier. Short speakers can almost disappear behind it! If this is a problem, try speaking from either beside or in front of the lectern so that your body language can work for you. A different problem arises if you move so close to listeners that you make them feel uncomfortable. If they pull back involuntarily in their chairs, you know you have violated their sense of personal space. You should seek the ideal physical distance between yourself and listeners to increase effectiveness.
The second principle of proximity suggests that elevation will also affect the sense of closeness between speakers and listeners. When you speak, you often stand above your seated listeners in a “power position.” Because we tend to associate above us with power over us, speakers may find that this arrangement discourages identification. Often they will sit on the edge of the desk in front of the lectern in a more relaxed and less elevated stance. If your message is informal and requires close identification, or if you are especially tall, you might try this approach.

Recent Entries

• Different kind of date
• Libido Increase for Better Sexual Gratification
• All around web services brought to you by Innate Media Group
• What is the best way to fight fatigue
• No Cost Applications For iPhone Gadget
• A way to an easy and convenient condo hunting
• Beef jerky, the healthy beef snack
• A stress reliever
• Logo Coffee Mugs - Ideal for Corporate Gifting
• Use the promo codes for free shipping

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 at 7:25 am and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.