But do you know how big these gestures should be?

In this article, you’ll learn to match the size of your gestures to your audience and venue.

What is meant by gesture size?

Just as your voice can be loud or soft, your gestures can be large or small.

For example, consider the spectrum of hand and arm gestures.

• Gestures involving your fingers only are small gestures.
• Gestures pivoting at your wrist are a bit larger.
• Gestures pivoting at your elbow are larger still.
• Finally, gestures pivoting at your shoulder are large.

Okay, how do you choose the right size?

It depends. Gestures that are effective for one audience might be completely ineffective with another audience.

Factors you should consider are:

1. the distance between you and your audience, and
2. sight lines between you and your audience
3. cultural and contextual factors

From these factors, we can derive some basic guidelines for effective body language.

Distance

In general, the farther your audience is from you, the larger and more pronounced your gestures need to be. Small audience = small gestures. Big audience = big gestures.

For example, when seated at a board room table, you might use a small hand gesture. When speaking in an auditorium, you need to use full arm gestures.

Sight Lines

In general, if sight lines are clear, you can make smaller and more intricate gestures. If sight lines are partially blocked, you need larger (and higher) gestures.

Cultural and Contextual Factors

Cultural and contextual factors may impact the appropriate size for your gestures. A few examples are:

• The culture of your audience members may dictate more subdued gestures. (In general, beware the use of large gestures if you are not familiar with your audience’s culture.)
• When delivering a eulogy or news about layoffs, your gestures should be subdued.
• When speaking to children, your gestures can probably be magnified.

In all cases, it is best to research this as part of your audience analysis, particularly if you are speaking to a new group.

Example Scenarios for Speech Gestures

Let’s consider a few sample scenarios to illustrate how the size of your audience (and, by extension, the size of the room) influences which gestures are most effective.

1. Speech Gestures for a Small Group (2-6 people)

Example Scenario: You are having a conversation with a colleague in an office, or sitting at a table with customers.

Guidelines for this small group setting:

• Your gestures can be small and still effective because everyone is close to you.
• Finger gestures and hand gestures pivoting at the wrist can be effective.
  For example, consider the finger gestures displayed by the man in photo A on the right.
• Eye gestures and facial expressions are inherently small gestures. They are critical in an intimate small-group setting, because everyone can see every nuance, both conscious and unconscious.
  For example, the woman in photo B is communicating non-verbally simply with her eyes and facial expression.
• The smaller your audience is, the more likely that you will have their full attention. They will tend to be looking at your eyes with a rather narrow field of view. Therefore, small hand gestures may work best if you raise your hands up closer to your eyes.
  For example, see how the man in photo C is gesturing with raised hands.
• Beware nervous gestures (e.g. tapping your fingers on the table; clicking a pen repeatedly) which are magnified in this setting.

2. Speech Gestures for a Medium Group (7-40 people)

Example Scenario: You are presenting to an audience which is seated around boardroom table, or in a small meeting room. You may be standing, or you may be seated yourself.

Guidelines for this medium group setting:

• Your gestures should be scaled up a bit as the average distance between you and the audience members increases.
• Your eye and facial gestures are still important. People in the front rows may still be able to see every nuance, both conscious and unconscious.
• Hand/arm gestures should pivot from your elbows at least.
  For example, consider President Obama in photo D as he gestures with his arm pivoting from his elbow.
• Watch your sight lines! Hand gestures which pivot at the wrist may be too small for people to see, particularly if you are speaking with a lectern or if views are obscured (e.g. by computer screens).
  For example, the man’s gesture in photo E may be invisible to his audience (and thus, ineffective) because it is blocked by the computer screen.
• Depending on the room layout, you may be able to incorporate some larger gestures with your upper body.

3. Speech Gestures for a Large Group (40-100 people)

Example Scenario: You are presenting a lunchtime seminar at a company, or perhaps a conference break-out session in a large meeting room. There probably is not a significant stage, nor is there raised seating (i.e. you are standing at the same level as your audience).

Guidelines for this large group setting:

• Your gestures should scale up even larger with arm gestures out and away from your body.
  For example, the woman in photo F is gesturing with her arm which is pivoting from her shoulder.
• Eye and facial expressions become less important because they are probably invisible to much of the audience unless you really exaggerate them.
• Because of the obscured sight lines for most of your audience behind the first few rows, this can be the most challenging audience size because they can only see you from the chest and higher. Any gestures you make lower are invisible to much of the audience.
  Note how the man in photo G has raised both his arms just under his face to gesture. This allows audience members to see him above the head of the person in front of them.
• One way to magnify smaller gestures is to hold them for a longer period of time and turn your body slightly as you display it. This increases the likelihood that more people will see the gesture.

4. Speech Gestures for a Huge Group (100+ people)

Example Scenario: You are presenting a keynote address at a conference. Audience seating is elevated as you move from front to back, and you are speaking from a stage which is probably set back from the front row.

Guidelines for this huge group setting:

• Your gestures need to scale up again. Full body gestures are necessary. Don’t hold back.
• Small gestures, like small objects, are invisible. Gestures with your fingers (e.g. putting up three fingers to indicate your third point) are invisible. Your audience will see your arm up, but they cannot see your fingers.
  For example, consider Steve Jobs as he unveils the MacBook Air in photo H. He realizes that most of his audience cannot really see what he is holding. (And his hands and face are even smaller!) So, a photo of a manila envelope appears on the screen behind him to compensate.
• Eye and facial gestures are invisible. This does not mean you should have a “dead” face. Quite the opposite, you should still have expressive eye and facial gestures because this will tend to keep your vocal variety high.
• Because of improved sight lines, you can probably use “low” hand/arm gestures that are centered around your stomach and waist.
• Also, your legs are now visible and you can exploit this to great advantage with full body gestures such as strolling or kicking.
• In rare cases, a video system may be used to magnify you for your audience, as with the woman presenting in photo I. If this is the case, smaller gestures can, once again, be seen. Large gestures are probably still more effective.

In Summary

Always be aware of the distance between you and your audience and the sight lines in the room. Based on this knowledge, scale your gestures accordingly and you will be effective.

Similar Articles You May Like... Toastmasters Speech 5: Your Body Speaks 6 Communication Barriers and How You Can Avoid Them Boost Your Speaking Confidence Through Improv How to Thrive When Speaking Outside How to Make Reading a Speech Not Like Reading a Speech Speech Critique: Elizabeth Gilbert @ TED (Author of Eat, Pray, Love)

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Does your face signal fear or does it signal excitement for your topic?

Do your hands vibrate, or do they punctuate your words?

The fifth Toastmasters speech project encourages you to make every body movement enhance your speech rather than detract from it. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

Why is This Speech Important?

Your aims for this speech project are to complement your message with your body during delivery. Specifically, be aware of your:

• posture,
• body movement,
• facial expressions, and
• eye contact.

If you aren’t aware of your body language, you are missing an incredible opportunity to improve your effectiveness as a speaker.

Tips and Techniques

1. Remove “Noisy” Movements

The Competent Communicator manual advice for this project is excellent, and among my favorite pieces of advice is “any movement during your speech should be purposeful.”

For many people, there is as much to be gained from removing nervous and distracting movements as there is from adding conscious gestures. It may seem counter-intuitive, but this is “addition by subtraction.”

Before delivering this speech, ask your mentor or a fellow club member to highlight your most distracting physical mannerism. We all have one. Mine is “wringing” of my hands. Yours might be a tendency to play with your hair. It might be playing with your keys or coins in your pocket. It might be rocking back and forth from your heel to your toe.

Whatever it is, make a goal in this project to consciously remove or reduce it in this speech project. By doing so, you can clear your physical palette, and then you’ll be ready for purpose additions of gestures to complement your message.

2. Avoid “Forcing” Gestures into Your Speech

One common mistake I see in Toastmasters who tackle this speech project is to overdo it by awkwardly forcing a hand gesture into nearly every sentence. This almost always results in a very choppy and awkward delivery.

Remember that your goal is not to provide a continuous physical interpretation of every word spoken. Instead, add gestures selectively where they add the most impact.

I find that the best way to avoid forcing hand and arms gestures is to try to strike an even balance between the other forms of physical gestures — eye contact, facial expressions, posture, or whole body movements. For example, if you convey an important emotion with your facial expression, your arms can relax to your sides because they “aren’t needed.”

3. Record Video of Yourself Speaking

If you have not seen yourself speaking yet, use this project as the motivation to finally do it. The best way to discover any distracting movements is to watch yourself delivering a speech with the volume turned off.

• Is your body constantly in movement, or do you come to rest in between gestures?
• Do your gestures alone (without the sound) convey emotions which match your message?
• Is your face expressive or flat?
• Are your eyes darting around the room or providing sustained contact?

What I Did for Speech 5

I decided to select a speech with a range of emotions so that I could practice having my body express the emotions. I chose to talk about a hobby that I shared with my dad — woodworking. Some examples of body language I used were:

• eyes wide open to mimic child wonder;
• angry face to signal frustration at a woodworking project gone wrong;
• shaking head to signal disappointment from my dad;
• a thrusting arm to show how wooden furniture was smashed; and
• various arm movements to show the sizes of pieces of wood.

The title of the speech was Measure Twice, Cut Once. Years later, I rewrote a substantial portion of this speech and entered the Toastmasters International Speech Contest, eventually placing third in District 21.

Critiques of Toastmasters Speech 5 Examples

Here are a few examples of Toastmasters members delivering speech 5 on video. Each is accompanied by a few critiques which highlight positive behaviors and things to improve. In several cases, a time is given (e.g. 0:45) Clicking on this link will take you to the moment the gesture is used in the speech.

Speech Example #1

Feeling Naked by Heather Applegate

• Gestures to Improve
  • Repetitive gesture (both arms spread out to sides), many times in a row. [0:45] If you repeat any action too many times, your audience starts to ignore it, or be annoyed by it. Both are bad for you.
  • In general, arms are quite “busy” with many “generic” gestures throughout. In her defense, this creates a relaxed, conversational style that is appropriate in for this speech topic. Still, I would like to see it toned down.
• Effective Body Language
  • Facial gestures convey a “puzzled look” to complement the confusion of the “neighbors being around you”. [0:55] This gesture comes through strong even with the imperfect video quality.
  • It’s better to avoid notes because they tend to limit gestures as you hold on to the paper. However, if you do must have notes, this is the way to do it [1:30]: briefly look down to orient yourself, and then look back up again before speaking. (Contrast this with talking to the paper @ 5:00.)
  • Inhale, exhale to complement “Just breathe” [3:05]

Speech Example #2

Let’s have disagreement by Anonymous

• Gestures to Improve
  • Forced gesture – The opening walk from right to left [0:02] seems forced to me. However, he recovered well with broad arm to right while saying “you’ll be one mile apart”
  • Repetitive action – Throughout the speech, two gestures are repeated over and over again. [1] two arms with palms upward; [2] two arms with thumbs up.
  • Back to the audience. [5:32] Try to avoid facing away from the audience, even when writing on a whiteboard or flip chart.
• Effective Body Language
  • Natural smile throughout the speech.
  • Raising of right arm reinforces that he wants the audience to respond to his question. [0:57]
  • Arms mimic “building a wall” [1:45]
  • Arms mimic a complete circle to punctuate “a whole” [3:16]
  • Emphasize opposites. Notice the use of the two arms for “stupid” and “smart” [4:16]
  • Arms “hugging” to punctuate the word “embrace” [6:03]

Speech Example #3

Speak Without Saying a Word by Emilie Staryak

• Gestures to Improve
  • It’s difficult to focus naturally on gestures when talking about gestures. For this reason, I recommend choosing a topic other than gestures for this speech.
• Effective Body Language
  • Natural smile throughout the speech.
  • Get the lectern out of the way [1:06]. Removing barriers between you and your audience helps them to see your body language and connect with you.
  • Emphasize opposites — “If we have a party that is going to start at 5 o’clock, we have to tell my Uncle Joe that it starts at 6 (arms gesturing to the right), and we have to tell my Dad that it starts at 4 (arms gesturing to the left)” [3:15]

Speech Example #4

Learning from Yourself by Anonymous

• Gestures to Improve
  • Arms tucked behind body for the first 70 seconds of speech. Try to keep your hands and arms in front and “ready” to gesture.
  • Repetitive gesture, both arms out in front, palms up, hands going up and down. [e.g. 4:40 to 5:20, and other times]
• Effective Body Language
  • Broad smile accompanies “I had lots of fun there” [2:20] Authenticity!
  • While saying “Projection”, arms project strongly outwards to complement words [2:48]
  • Emphasize opposites by providing opposing gestures. Arms sway to right = “too fast”; arms sway to the left = “too slow” [2:52]

More Examples of Your Body Speaks

Here are a few more sample video speeches which may provide inspiration for you. As you watch some of these videos, ask yourself which body language is effective and which is not. Then, try to emulate the best behaviors in your own speech.

• The Joy. The Ecstacy. The Moment by Anonymous
• Home Invasion by Annie
• Stuck in a Rut by Jason Turner
• Unknown by Sanjiv Santhanam
• Death of an Apostrophe by Chris J
• Unknown by Julia Billingsley
• Competition by David Stokes
• Couch Exercise by Eric
• Change by Accident by Bruce
• Invest a Little Discipline by Harsh Singhal
• Learning from Kids by Sachin Shah (including an evaluation)
• What Winners Do To Win by Lisa

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series

The next article in this series examines Toastmasters Speech 6: Vocal Variety.

Similar Articles You May Like... Are Your Speech Gestures Too Small, Too Big, or Just Right? 6 Communication Barriers and How You Can Avoid Them How to Make Reading a Speech Not Like Reading a Speech Speech Critique: Elizabeth Gilbert @ TED (Author of Eat, Pray, Love) Toastmasters Speech 7: Research Your Topic Boost Your Speaking Confidence Through Improv

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.