Welcome to Lesson eight using gestures for powerful speech. In this lesson we look closely at using gestures to add power to your speech. We start off with an overview of gestures. Adding gestures to your presentation can kick your effectiveness as a speaker up a notch. gestures are specific body movements that reinforce a verbal message. When you use body movements and gestures appropriately, your presentation takes on a certain sense of a lightness that is often hard to accomplish when you use words alone.
Gestures includes your posture, the movement of your eyes, hands, face, arms and head as well as your entire body. They help to support or reinforce a particular thought or emotion. If our gesture support or statements we're communicating with a second sense, people tend to understand remember messages better when more than one sentence is reached. Winston Churchill was a master using gestures To powerfully bring home his point. During World War Two, Churchill rallied the citizens of Great Britain to continue their fight against overwhelming odds. You often visited the neighborhoods of London, which had been devastated by bombs, and walk through them with his fingers held up the sign of a V. This victory sign accompany this famous message.
Never give in. Never, never, never give in. This gesture so powerfully communicated Churchill's message, as soon people gain greater resolve to continue fighting whenever they saw the victory sign. A speaker's gesture can suggest very precise bits of meaning to an audience. To be effective, a speaker's gestures must be purposeful. They must also have the same meaning to the audience as they do to the speaker.
Gestures reflect not only what is being said, but the personality behind The message. gestures clarify and support your words. They strengthen the audience's understanding of your verbal message. gestures dramatize your ideas. They help paint vivid pictures and your listeners minds. gesture gestures lend emphasis and vitality they underscore your feelings and attitudes.
Gestures help dissipate nervous tension, they are good outlet for nervous energy. gestures function is vital visual aids. They enhance audience attentiveness and retention. gesture stimulate audience participation, they help elicit the response you want. It has been said that over 55% of your body language is communicated to others Clearly, another reason that using appropriate gestures are so critical to your presentation is that communication doesn't just consist of words. On the other hand, less than 10% of the words we use and speaking gets through to others.
Whether you're trying to sell your product or service to a client, or you're trying to persuade a group of people to change their behavior. It's critical that your words and gestures match. Many people have sabotages their message just because their words were saying one thing while their bodies were saying the exact opposite. You think of a time when someone told you that they'd be able to do something while his head was shaking? No. Which Did you believe the words are his gesture?
When your body movements are congruent with your words, your message will have a very powerful impact on your audience. Let's take a look at gestures even closer, closer. gestures are grouped into four categories, starting with descriptive gestures. These are used to clarify or to enhance your message. Some descriptive gestures include using your hands to indicate size, weak shape, direction or location, and the function of something. comparison and contrast can be illustrated by moving your hands in unison to show similarities and by moving in opposite directions, show differences emphatic gestures, these gestures underscore or at impact what is being said.
Show your audience how important your point is. For example, a clenched fist suggest strong feelings such as anger or determination. They can also indicate power hidden your fist into your open palm could illustrate anger her importance. For finger pointing toward the ceiling means that people should listen to what you're saying. folding your arms across your chest project strength and determination. clasping your hands in front of your chest conveys unity, a good gesture to use when you're emphasizing teamwork, or trying to resolve a conflict, suggestive gestures.
These are symbols of ideas or emotions. For example, an open palm suggests giving or receiving, while the shrug of the shoulders indicates ignorance, perplexity, or irony, prompting gestures these are used to evoke the desired response from the audience. For example, if you want your listeners to raise your hand, raise their hand, applaud or perform some other action You'll encourage the desired response by doing the act of yourself. As an example, let's look at the location of gestures. gestures can help you paint pictures with words, but make sure they don't get in the way. You can make gestures above, below, or near your shoulders.
Each position produces a different effect on your speech delivery. gestures above the shoulders suggest physical height, inspiration, or emotion. gestures below the shoulders indicates sadness, rejection, apathy, or condemnation. gestures at or near the shoulder suggests calmness or serenity. The most frequently used gesture involves an open palm held outward toward the audience. Holding your pump outward implies giving or receiving Fortunately, most speakers use the gesture and consciously as a general movement, without any specific meaning.
Upon held downward expresses suppression, secrecy, Completion, or stability. Upon held up word, no word suggests stuffing. Hands also imply measurement, such as tall, short, small, long, and so on. Make the most of your movement. There's some caution. Movement ought to be motivated by the content of your speech.
Sometimes speakers wonder without apparent name, creating a distraction with too much movement or too many gestures. As you practice your speech, experiment with different gestures to find those that feel natural to you and underscore your message. People will begin to make judgments about you as soon as you stand up. The time to begin using effective body movements is when you walk to the position in front of a group. stand up tall and walk with a strong posture. Let your buddy communicate that you have something important to say.
The audience needs to hear it. If your posture slouched, they will feel that you aren't convinced about your message. They will begin doubting you before you have even uttered a single word. When you get to the front, take a deep breath, humbly look at the entire audience and smile on the biggest mistakes presenters make is to begin talking as soon as they get up to the front. Or even worse, as they're walking up there. When you take the time to look at your audience before you speak, you begin to establish a critical critical connection with them.
You also give the audience sufficient time to focus on you What you're about to say it's important to look directly at the faces of your audience members, none over their heads. Eye contact is one of the most important aspects of speaking. and easy way to get over stage fright is to look at the faces of individual audience members and just talk to that one person, instead of the entire audience. Rotate the people, you talk to someone on the left someone towards the middle, person on the right, someone in the front, etc. This will help you maintain rapport with the entire group will allow you to feel at ease. The further advantage of maintaining good eye contact is that you will is that it will help you gauge how your message is coming across to the group.
If you're trying to explain something, and members of the audience give you blank stares, then you need to adjust your words so they can better understand you. Let's look some simple tips to using gestures. One, keep the gestures above the waist. Low hand gestures are hard to see and may indicate low self esteem and the person using them to use gestures to reinforce a point, but be careful. It's not that uncommon to accidentally confuse your audience with your gestures. Example, making two key points, but holding up three fingers.
Three, avoid jerky gestures. The normal gestures you'd use in conversation may be too quick to use. In front of an audience of more than one person they make they may make you appear nervous or jumpy. When presenting to a group, hold your gestures longer than you would a normal conversation. Number four very your gestures. If you're right handed, resist the urge to gesture only with your right hand.
Switch from hand to hand and occasionally use both hands at once. If you use the same gesture over and over, it loses its impact. No look at using conversational gestures. Like Winston Churchill, you should strive to incorporate gestures into your talk. People naturally use gestures and conversation. They're not on the spot.
So they easily move their arms and hands and make facial expressions illustrate the points they're trying to make. However, an amazing thing happens when people stand up in front of a group to speak. They suddenly think, Oh, no, what am I going to do with these things attached to my shoulders, and they either don't move them at all, or they move them awkwardly. Yesterday should be a natural extension of who you are. Presenters should strive to be themselves. They should be as spontaneous with their movements as if they were talking to their family or friends.
Practice makes natural a good way to To be comfortable with gestures is to know your speech well. Several of the most outstanding speakers offer the same piece of advice. The key to effectively using gestures is to know your material so well to be so well prepared, that your gestures will flow naturally. Practice your speech and no it will. So that when so that you can enjoy sharing your message with others. become a master using your body to support your words.
Have fun with gestures, be yourself, and you'll certainly present your message with power and possess the next lesson, we explore your voice and your image