This is the first installment of articles contributed by my fellow Public Speaking Blogger, Gary Guwe. Former President of the NUS Toastmasters Club, Gary also does extensive research in the area of Body Language. Visit his blog Connexion! Communication Central

Take it away Gary!

Have you ever seen a presenter or speaker speak on stage, and be entirely turned off or irritated by him? Alright, maybe not entirely turned off… but your feeling still borders on the negative side as you struggle with discomfort as you hear the speaker speak?

Well, lousy content and poor pronunciation aside, inappropriate use of body language in different settings can cause discomfort for your audience and it can be a MAJOR turnoff to the people who’ve come to hear you speak! It’s true!

Imagine your typical meeting/conference room. It’s capacity is made for about 10-20 people set around a round/oval meeting table. You’re seated in the midst of the audience, and you’ve a presenter prancing around the room and waving his arms in the air as he gesticulates and makes a point.

What comes to your mind?

( I had a chimpanzee in mind…a really adorable one)

Jokes aside, inappropriate gesturing can make your audience uncomfortable. More specifically, misjudging the magnitude and the level of energy you put into gesticulation can cause more harm than good for your speech. And when it comes to body language, it is essential that speakers match their level of energy and the size of their actions accordingly to the size of the crowd, as over-gesticulation or under-gesticulation may compromise the effectiveness of your speech/presentation.

The purpose of this post, then is to help you understand the dynamics behind the volume of your action, and which level you should employ depending the size of your crowd.

When it comes to using your hands, there are 4 main zones to consider. When you’re talking to a small group of people on stage, the minimum you could use your hands would be at level One-waist level. You are, however, allowed to stray into the zone Two, which is slightly higher-chest level too even when you’re group size is considerably small, say between 3 - 5 people.

The Second Zone (chest level) is an appropriate level for you to gesticulate when you’re speaking to, say, a group size of around 6 to 50 people. It is natural for you to raise your level as as your group size becomes bigger, you’ll need to increase it for the sake of visibility and energy.

The Third Zone (upper chest level) would be more appropriate for a group size of 50 and above, and when you’ve people seated far at the back and you need to make your actions visible to them.

Lastly, the Fourth Zone (head level and beyond) is the loudest and most prominent of all levels. Whilst it’s okay to make a gesture or use your hands near your head once in awhile to make a point, prolonged gesticulation around your head, or raising your hands above your shoulders could have disastrous consequences. Not only would you look like a restless chimpanzee, your actions could come across as being too loud and boisterous, and you could come across as being pushy, aggressive and dangerous. Not to mention crazy… and restless (again!)

Eventually, unless you’re speaking (or singing) to a stadium full of people, I would recommend that you refrain from raising or flailing your hand for extended periods above your head. Not unless you’re trying to show off your beautiful arm pits or attempt to find a mate by spreading your pheromones. In any instance, you can do it if you feel like being a monkey. Otherwise, let’s strive to be professional by paying attention to the volume of our actions.

Remember, there’s no need to shout when you can speak. The same goes for our actions!

Remember( yet another one ), you heard this first at the Public Speaking Blog!

P.S. To find out more about Body Language on Stage, check out the following posts:

Power Moves! 5 Tips To Make Body Language Work For You

Power Failure-How Not To Use Your Body

Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach

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