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 8 Faulty Speaker Assumptions and How to Fix Them Connect With Your Audience: Don’t Hide Your Emotions When Speaking Stop Rehearsing! 3 Critical Things to Do Before Your Speech 5 Presentation Lessons from Randy Pausch in The Last Lecture How to Speak: 7 Speaking Tips from Patrick Henry Winston

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?

The stated objectives for this speech project are to have your body complement your speech message:

• Use stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact to express your message and achieve your speech’s purpose.
• Make your body language smooth and natural.

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?
• Video Critique: J.A. Gamache (Toastmasters, 2007)
• Toastmasters Speech 6: Vocal Variety
• Toastmasters Testimonials: 85 Years of Better Speakers
• Toastmasters: Please Share Your Story
• Toastmasters: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

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.

Wrong. You only have words on paper, and your audience doesn’t want to read your speech.

Your audience wants to see and hear your presentation. You will dazzle them by complementing your speech with staging, gestures, and vocal variety.

This article shows you how.

Vocal Variety: The Four P’s

Monotone delivery puts your audience to sleep, no matter how riveting your content. On the other hand, an energetic and varied voice will be music to their ears.

Vocal variety covers the 4 P’s:

1. Power (or volume)
2. Pitch
3. Pace
4. Pauses

Power

Power refers to the volume you project. At a minimum, be sure that your entire audience can easily hear you without straining.

• Turning your voice volume up or down adds interest. Use both variations when they match the emotion you want to convey. For example, speaking loud might be used to convey excitement. Speaking soft might convey sadness.
• Use a microphone to amplify your voice in large rooms.
• Eliminate outside noises, if you can. If you can’t, consider moving the audience closer to you, or moving into the audience.

Pitch

Pitch is the frequency of the sound you emit. To some extent, you are born with your voice pitch, whether it be soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, or baritone. However, if your speech contains dialogue for several characters, varying your pitch is an excellent way to distinguish between them.

Pace

Pace is your speaking rate, and varying it throughout the speech adds great interest. There are many effects that a variable pace can generate, but the most basic are:

• Speed up to heighten the emotion in a dramatic story.
• Slow down when delivering key phrases.

The most common pace problem is speaking too fast for the audience to absorb the material. There are two underlying reasons for this:

• Lack of editing leaves too much content and too little time. The resulting pace is far too fast for the audience to absorb.
• Nervousness also contributes to a rapid speaking rate.

For an example of rapid speaking rate, see Majora Carter in Greening the Ghetto.

Pauses

Pauses are magical. On the lips of master speakers, pauses can be used for a multitude of purposes.

• Short pauses can signal the end of a clause or sentence. Your audience needs these because they can’t read the punctuation in your text.
• Longer pauses signal the transition between major points or stories. Experienced speakers will often take a drink of water, ready a prop, or consult notes at these times.
• Pauses before and after key points are wonderful buffers. The preceding pause signals to the audience that you are about to say something important. The following pause gives the audience time to reflect on what you just said and internalize it.
• Pauses can also be used to enhance audience interaction (e.g. ask a rhetorical question, and then wait).

Example: Steve Jobs demonstrates a powerful pause in his Stanford Commencement speech.

Gestures / Body Language

Hundreds of gestures are available to help complement your words. Gestures throughout your speech make you interesting to watch. If you are interesting to watch, then your audience will be more attentive to your message. Failure to use gestures will lead your audience to watch the inside of their eyeballs.

Rather than attempting to itemize hundreds of different gestures, I’ll highlight a few general principles:

• Your body will naturally want to move as you speak. Don’t inhibit these natural gestures as they convey a sense that you are comfortable and confident in your message.
• Mix in deliberate gestures to coincide with key points. Mimic the actions of your speech (e.g. throwing a ball), or convey concepts through recognizable symbols (e.g. convey “censorship” by covering your mouth).
• Use a variety of gestures. Don’t use the same one over and over and over again.
• Increase the size of your gestures to match the size of the room. When presenting to three of your co-workers at a table, your gestures can be small (e.g. hand gestures that start at the wrist). When presenting to a packed auditorium, your gestures should be large (e.g. full-body gestures originating from the shoulders)
• Don’t neglect the power of facial gestures. Your audience will feed off the facial gestures you make.

For an outstanding demonstration of gestures which complement a speech, see J.A. Gamache deliver Being a Mr. G.

Staging

Staging your speech means utilizing the 3-dimensional space around you in the most effective way possible.

• Novice speakers will chain themselves to the lectern or stand in one spot on the middle of the stage.
• Intermediate speakers will meander randomly around the speaking area. Body movement appeals to the audience and keeps attention.
• Great speakers move around the speaking area with purpose. Every time they take a few steps, they are doing so with a distinct purpose in mind.

Like gestures, there are innumerable ways to stage your speech, but here are a few general principles:

• The simplest act of staging is to prepare the speaking area before you begin. Move the lectern to the side. Move obstacles away, or at least be aware of them. Make sure every person in the audience has a clear sight line to you (or your slides). Simple acts like this show the audience that you’ve thought of everything, and that you want no barriers between you and them.
• If you are using props or other visual aids, plan where they will be before and after you use them. When they are not being used, you want them out of sight.
• Just as long pauses can signal the transition between major points, so can considerable movement within the speaking area.
• You can map specific locations in the speaking area to be virtual locations for certain stories of your speech. Then, when you refer back to these stories, a simple gesture back to that area of the speaking area is valuable to help the audience make the connection.
• In very large rooms, be sure to balance your position on the left, center, and right of the speaking area.
• Not every speech allows for it, but don’t forget about the forward/backward direction as well as up/down. If you can meaningfully bring in these directions, it will make a powerful statement. For example, consider what climbing on a chair might allow you to do within your speech.

Example of Staging, Gestures, and Vocal Variety — Face the Wind

As I have done with previous articles in this series, I will use my 2007 contest speech Face the Wind to illustrate the use of staging, gestures, and vocal variety.

Below is an annotated summary of key staging, gestures, and vocal variety — the choreography of the speaking performance. The summary is time-indexed e.g. [1:15] according to the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Staging: Throughout the speech, note how most of the humor “punch lines” are delivered looking right or left. Similarly, many of the serious lines are delivered front and center. This is a technique that I was exploring in this speech for the first time.
• Gesture: Arm gesture to left, then right to match the trading of house keys for condo keys. [0:27]
• Vocal variety: “escaped … loud vacuous whoosh“. Also complemented by arm gestures to the right [0:42]
• Gesture: Facial expressions on “yard work” [0:56]
• Gesture: Arm gesture referring to audience on “a Toastmasters club officer” because many in the audience were (or have been) officers. [1:00]
• Staging: The walk around my yard looking at numerous bushes and trees [1:26]
• Gesture/Staging: Introduction of the Japanese maple tree is with arms up to indicate the height of the tree. Notice how this stage position is mapped to the tree location. [1:34]
• Vocal variety: Vocal variety: “no, not wide enough” [2:10]
• Gesture/Staging: Difficult to see this on the video, but the hole-digging sequence involves stage movement from front to back, diagonally. [2:13]
• Gesture: Arms open wide to indicate the breadth of the “moat” [2:21]
• Staging: Drop to the floor to wrestle the tree. [2:30] This position was also the setup for the “roots like tentacles, as expansive as its branches” gesture [2:50]
• Gesture: Triumphant gesture [2:34]
• Staging: Note the location of the neighbour’s monster tree is off to the right (actually above the audience). This position is mapped for future reference to the monster tree. [3:12]. For example, notice reference to monster tree at [3:51] and again at [4:12].
• Gesture: Forceful gestures to mimic the gas BBQ being lifted up [4:05]
• Gesture: Double hand gesture for “force combined with direction” [4:30]
• Gesture/Staging: Full body gestures for wind blowing and tree resisting. Notice that for these gestures, I am facing to the side so that the majority of the audience will see these gestures in profile. This is more effective than facing the audience. Note also how the contrasting wind directions are indicated [4:39 to 4:55].
• Vocal variety: Voice is quieter at the start of the miscarriage story, then gets louder with “when that wind came for them, not once but twice” [5:05]
• Gesture: holding infant Maximus [6:22]
• Gesture: incubator [6:30]
• Gesture: Notice the gestures in the “yesterday-today-tomorrow” segment [6:45] It starts on the audience’s left, then middle, then right… just as if they were viewing a standard timeline from left to right.
• Vocal variety: Lengthy pause before “We are not trees” [7:04]
• Gesture: Emphatic gestures to indicate we are not trees [7:12] and roots going through the seat [7:13]. Energy here is amplified.

Next in the Speech Preparation Series

Your speech is finally ready. No… wait… you haven’t practiced it yet. The next article in the Speech Preparation Series discusses techniques to get maximum benefit from your rehearsal sessions.

Similar Articles You May Like...

• Toastmasters Speech 6: Vocal Variety
• Are Your Speech Gestures Too Small, Too Big, or Just Right?
• Toastmasters Speech 5: Your Body Speaks
• Are… um… Filler Words… ah… Okay?
• Speech Preparation #10: Prepare to Win a Toastmasters Speech Contest
• Speech Preparation #9: Prepare Now for Your Next Speech

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.

This video critique analyzes many noteworthy elements of the presentation, including:

• a memorable speech opening and closing which feature the same prop;
• the callback technique for repetitive humor;
• emotionally charged writing; and
• a series of wonderfully choreographed gestures.

I encourage you to:

1. Watch the video;
2. Read the analysis in this speech critique; and
3. Share your thoughts on this presentation.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Effective Prop for Strong Opening

J.A. opens his speech by blowing a train whistle and yelling “All aboard!” [0:30] This may be the greatest impact in the opening four seconds of a speech I’ve ever seen. It is simple and quick, but it transports the audience out of their chairs in a ballroom and onto a train.

Also note how J.A. expertly conceals the prop before its use (in his left hand, so that he could shake hands with his right), and then immediately pockets it afterwards. This is a good lesson: display the prop only when you are specifically using it. You don’t want the audience’s attention on the prop anymore, so don’t hold onto it, fidget with it, or leave it anywhere in view.

(Effective Prop for) Strong Closing

J.A. closes the speech exactly as he opened it: blowing the train whistle and yelling “All aboard!” This is wonderfully circular, and symbolically tells the audience not only that the speech is complete, but that we have neatly returned back to where we started.

Immediately preceding the whistle, J.A. says: “In the train of life, the world needs more Mr. and Mrs. G’s like you.” This is a well-crafted call to action for several reasons:

• metaphor (”train of life“)
• simile (”like“)
• personalized for audience (”you”)

“Mr. G.” – A Contemporary Hero

When first used in the speech title, “Mr. G.” creates mystery in the minds of the audience. Who is Mr. G.? The use of “mister” implies that it is someone J.A. respects (i.e. Mr. G. rather than simply G.), but that is a subtle clue.

Later, after the true identity is revealed, J.A. continues to use “Mr. G.” I think this gives the hero a more contemporary quality. This makes Gandhi seem more like a next-door neighbour than a great man who (to the audience) lived around the world in a faraway land sixty years ago. The word choice is an effective way to bridge the distance – in time, geography, culture, context – between the life of the hero and the lives of the audience members.

Repetition of Key Phrases

“Awww. How sweeeeet.”

• Three repetitions. J.A. first uses this phrase following the story of Gandhi and the two sandals [1:51]. He repeats it during the stories of giving shoes to a homeless person [2:33] and dancing with the hearing impaired crowd [5:00].
• J.A. uses virtually the same vocal variety and gesture every time.
• He gets a little laughter on the first use, and much more laughter on subsequent uses. This is not accidental. The callback technique creates a psychological connection between each use. Essentially, G.A. created a lightweight conditioned response for the audience to laugh whenever he used that phrase and that gesture.

“Dare to care.”

• Five repetitions. First used with “Gandhi dared to care.” [2:08] Used again at 2:43, 2:48, 5:05, and in the conclusion at 7:28.
• In all cases, this phrase is followed by a longer-than-average pause to indicate its importance.
• This is the signature phrase of the speech. “Dare to care” would have been a suitable title for the speech, although I prefer the title J.A. used for the mystery it created.

Emotionally Powerful

“Dance with me.
And we danced.
At last we understood each other.
Not a word was spoken.
Yet we were not silent anymore.
Our joy roared louder than a thousand voices.
Some words erupted from my heart.
I couldn’t hold them anymore.
I yelled.” [4:22]

These words and the complementary gestures – the foot beating the stage and dancing around – combine to create the most emotional moment in the speech. J.A. is marvelous in this segment:

• His dance and gestures draw the audience in.
• The vocal variety creates building excitement.
• Note the short sentences in this segment: nine sentences with just 44 words (less than 5 words/sentence). The short, simple sentences complement the up-tempo rhythmic beat of his feet.

Rich Figures of Speech

There are many other examples of clever speechwriting as well:

• Double meaning. “Just chatting…[pause] So to speak.” [3:24]
  The latter phrase – So to speak – has a double meaning here:
  1. Its usual meaning – to draw attention to the understatement preceding it. (To say that hearing impaired people just chat is an understatement.)
  2. In this case, the understatement is about speaking. This double meaning is apt to be particularly appreciated in an audience of public speakers.
• Simile. “My brain started melting like ice cream in a heat wave.” [5:32]
• Vivid exaggeration. “Sweat … pooled in my shoes.” [5:34] Later, this is followed by “I slushed back to my seat.” [5:52]
• Repeated word.
  • “Confused… Confused…” [5:39]
  • “Thank you. Yes, you. You. You. All of you!” [6:58] Audiences like to be complimented, as long as you are sincere as J.A. is in this segment.
  • “You.” J.A. uses this word 38 times (including derivatives “your” and “yourself”). The entire speech has 718 words. Over 5% of the words in the speech are explicitly audience-focused. The concentration of “you” words is especially high in the opening and conclusion.
• Anaphora and the Rule of Three.
  “A sandal of hope when you reach out.
  A sandal of joy when you listen to your heart.
  A sandal of courage when you dare to care.” [7:13]
  The first two are accompanied by great gestures. The third gesture is interesting, though I’m not certain what it is meant to represent.

Expressive Gestures

J.A.’s use of body language in this speech was masterful. He demonstrates that gestures should not be random, or an afterthought. Gestures should be carefully crafted to complement and punctuate the words being spoken (or, occasionally, to express ideas in the absence of words). With gestures, he is able to express numerous emotions and ideas throughout his speech. In addition to those already mentioned, there are several more:

• Pride. “You are wearing a pair of sandals you proudly made yourself” complemented by glancing down at sandals with pride. [0:50]
• Motion. “The train starts to pull away” complemented by backwards walking (to the left). His movement makes it seem as though the stage is moving off to the right. [1:02]
• Displeasure. “I would have cursed my bad luck…” complemented by stomping around on stage and “sour puss” facial features. [1:09]
• Recalling a memory. “Big deal. It’s just a pair of sandals.” complemented by a gesture to the stage location where the sandals were removed earlier. [2:15]
• Bravery. “I jumped on the loudspeaker” complemented by a lateral jump to the left. [3:50]
• (Lack of) Physical fitness. “Well, actually, I climbed on the loudspeaker” complemented by cradling his stomach. [3:55]
• Yelling. Waving arms above his head. [4:00]
• Slow motion. Compare the waving of arms @ 4:15 to the earlier waving of arms @ 4:00. The latter gesture is much slower. This contrast shows that that latter waves were more deliberate, more heartfelt.
• Drum vibrations. Tapping of foot on stage to mimic the beating of a drum was masterful. [4:22]
• Sign language. “We love you too.” complemented by sign language. This is far more effective than simply saying “They signed back that they loved me too” without actions. [4:50]
• Nervous and confused. “Boy! Was I nervous! My heart was pounding…” complemented by various nervous gestures. [5:21]

Your Thoughts?

Did you enjoy this speech? What did you like most? How could this presentation be enhanced? Was the evaluation fair? Did I miss anything?

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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.