Think on Your Feet by Jen Oleniczak Brown

Author:Jen Oleniczak Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Published: 2020-01-15T16:00:00+00:00

Defining gestures first—we’re thinking about those nonverbal body-language bits that we don’t often pay attention to enough. Specifically, we’re going to deal with hand and arm gestures, as well as some head gestures. Several studies show that gestures can increase the value of messages by as much as 60 percent—but how much of our message is taken away if our hands are too busy?9

One specific study analyzed TED Talks and found that least popular TED Talks used an average of 272 hand gestures during their 18-minute talk—and the most popular TED Talks used an average of 465 hand gestures during the same time.10 We use gestures because we are animated. We are animated because we are passionate. When we care, they do too!

While we can agree that gestures can help a message, what gestures matter the most? How can we cling to our authenticity as a speaker while using the right gestures?

The first gesture-based improv activity I immediately default to involves pantomime.

TRY THIS

Hold up an imaginary phone. Yes, right now, hold up an imaginary phone.

Did you make your hand into the shape of a phone, or did you pretend to hold up an invisible phone?

This helps develop your pantomime skills. Most people pantomime incorrectly. This activity develops the skill that helps with the awareness of our gestures.

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