Public Speaking - Body Language Mistakes: Gestures, Movement, Posture & Facial Expressions

Non - said communication, or body language, is an important part of public speaking. Your body language includes your posture, movement, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and voice. At the very introductory, your body language should not distract the audience and with a little practice, it can help you pack confidence and help the audience mind your message more markedly.

Here are the most common signal, movement, posture and facial expression mistakes:

Signal MISTAKES

• Not using gestures at all. If you keep your hands locked at your sides, you will look nervous and your presentation will want the visual element to copulate and enhance your words.

• Keeping your hand in your pockets. This position leads down the slippery incline to slouching and a sloppier posture. And you also may unconsciously start playing with the keys or change in your pocket ( positively, I ' ve experimental – and heard – it happen! ).

• Fidgeting with your hands. Be aware of what your hands are doing, such as " washing " each other, grasping each other tightly, fiddling with your pocket watch or jewelry, etc. One of my public speaking coaching clients rolled and unrolled his shirt sleeves while he presented ( we solved that problem by having him wear short sleeves ). If you must occupation something, such as your notes or the PowerPoint remote, be conscious of how you are haul it. Too much the item becomes something for you to play with unconsciously, or in the cause of notes, a crutch that prevents you from looking at the audience.

• Return your hands behind your back. This indicate oftentimes resembles that of a child reciting a poem at a drill assembly. When not gesturing, your hands should be in the " neutral position, " pending loosely at your sides.

• Pointing at the audience. True, your monstrous was right – it ' s not polite to point. Try an unbarred - handed signal instead.

• Folding your arms across your chest. Even if you are only doing this for you feel cold, this gesture will most likely be interpreted as your closing yourself off from the audience.

• Gripping the podium. This indicate is ofttimes accompanied by the " deer in the headlights " look. If you ' re using a podium, place your hands lightly on the top of it or in a relaxed grip on the edges.

• Using posed gestures. Your gestures should be natural and flow smoothly quite than looking forced or robotic.

• Using excessively rehearsed gestures.

I once proverb a speaker fall to his knees during his speech, which was useless and struck the audience as fine and insincere.

MOVEMENT MISTAKES

• Moving without design. Most of the time you should stand confidently in one place tolerably than pacing back and forth or moving aimlessly. If you do need to motion, it should have a target. For standard, shlep confidently to the front of the room before you plunge into speaking and airing with design to the flipchart or to the computer.

• Shifting from your weight from one foot to the other. Many people do this unconsciously and sometimes as their feet hurt ( hint: wear moneyed shoes! ). Instead, stand with your feet firmly planted on the pave, with your weight equally distributed on both feet.

• Hiding behind a desk, podium or flipchart. If the fitness structure is set up so you are partially cast away behind imperative, then you have to rely more heavily on your voice and facial expressions to carry meaning. If you are nervous and feel exposed when there ' s nullity between you and the audience, practice, practice, practice – in revelation of the mirror, on video, in dash of a fraternal party of colleagues. If you must head-set behind relevant, do so with opinion and not as if you are abridgement from the audience.

POSTURE MISTAKES

• Standing too stiffly. Precisely, you should notion up plain but it should be natural, not like you are frozen at attention. Keep your shoulders back and tenure your head up so you can make eye contact. This posture conveys confidence and helps you breathe more fully.

• Slouching and keeping your head down. Not only does it prevent you from looking at the audience, but it also conveys nervousness and makes it harder for the audience to hear you.

FACIAL EXPRESSION MISTAKES

• Not smiling, ever. Unless you are delivering horrid news, it is rightful for you to smile, even in a business setting. Smiling will relax you and, in turn, relax the audience.

• Smiling too much, especially when delivering bad announcement. You may be smiling or even giggling now you are very nervous, but it undermines the caliber of your message and your sincerity. If you smile broadly or giggle while announcing mass layoffs, for stereotype, your audience will interpret it as a sign of your absence of concern.

If you eliminate these body language mistakes from your presentation, you ' ll come across as more confident and sincere and you ' ll be able to communicate more effectively. Your body language will flesh out your message to the audience tolerably than distract from it.

Body Posture Affects Moods

A recent article from Canwest Facts Service spoken that recent research conducted at Hobart and William Smith College in New York state, has found that the “ mere act of folding your arms increases what-it-takes and activates an unconscious wanting to succeed. ”

Now the first response of people when they glare someone with his / her arms folded, is to think back to their classes on non - oral behaviour and think, “ Oh, that person in being defensive”. And it is true that frequently the folded arms indicate indicates an unwillingness to settle with what a speaker is suggesting.

However, it now appears that something exceeding might be in play here as well, and the most impressive part of the research is that not only do our non - verbals fanfare what we might be thinking, but our non - verbals might also trigger a psychological state that may create what we think.

The folded arms folks in the research study spent more time on an impossible - to - solve anagram ( word brush ), and in amassed study came up with more correct solutions to a puzzle than those who were asked to sit with their hands on their thighs.

Repeatedly we think that the psychological state leads to body movement, but it appears that this works both ways.

What this suggests, then, is that we may have a range of other alternatives to use to modify our moods and mental states. ( Besides food! )

Method actors be present to have understood this for senescence. In composition to “ get into” the spirit of the character being portrayed, the entertainer will adopt the proper posture. If the character is blue, woebegone, or alone, then the entertainer will impel by adopting a hunched temper, tip down, shoulders slumped, etc. That body posture creates an internal responsiveness in the trouper which s / he is then able to dispatch to the audience.

Brood over the song from, I think, Sound of Music – Whenever I feel excitable, I clout my head erect, I whistle a happy tune, etc. Looks as if the songwriter had it right.

Next time you want to change your mental state, try changing your body posture first and peek what precipitate is has on your mood. It might be easier than trying to talk yourself out of a bad spirit.

© 2008, Pitsel and Associates Ltd.