If you prefer video content over text, I explain this material with fun, musical examples in my YouTube video.
There is a dizzying array of advice out there on public speaking gestures: what to do with your hands, what shapes to make…
In this article, I break down one easy way to use your hands and quickly look like an expert.
What Not To Do
Read this sentence and consider what gestures you would use to express it:
“What if I told you, there’s a skill in the world, that everyone can learn, and not just learn but get good at, that will empower us to understand data better, and make a data, informed, decision?”
You’re already one step ahead. Many speakers will not consider what gestures to use. They’ll move their hands around as they talk without direction, creating a flurry of unhelpful, visual noise.
Or they’ll land on the other extreme and plan every single gesture. That’s like an actor on stage performing rehearsed lines. Not a public speaker giving an authentic performance.
What To Do
Check out how Jordan Morrow, TEDx speaker and the “Godfather” of data literacy, delivers the same sentence. You only need to watch about one minute from the video below to get a sense of Jordan’s technique.
Jordan doesn’t flail around aimlessly or plan gestures for individual words.
He moves naturally and spontaneously, yet purposefully, pausing after each of the phrases below and gesturing with his dominant hand – simply moving it upward as if to flag the phrase as important.
Practice reading each phrase below with a similar, simple gesture at the end:
“What if I told you”
“that there is legitimately a skill in the world”
“that everyone can learn”
“and not just learn but get good at”
“that will empower us to understand data and information better”
“and then to make a data, informed, decision?”
Like the conductor of an orchestra, this is how you masterfully direct your audience’s attention.
Summary
As you develop your dexterity as a public speaker, you’ll add more gestures to your repertoire that fit your style and personality. But consider this technique as a handy starting point: Pause at the end of each phrase, and punctuate that ending with a gesture – to verbally and visually re-engage your audience’s attention.
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