Hands, arms, facial expression along with the spoken word is an important part of communication. I had three professors who best demonstrate the power behind hands, arms and face in communication.
Professor #1 – I can’t remember her name or face. All I remember is that I failed the class. The class was medical terminology. At the start of each class, she would pass out a word list for that day’s class. Each word was broken down in syllables followed by definition. Her lecture was standing in front of class reading the handout. It was in a boring monotone.
Professor #2 – Mr. Thomas taught Intro to Middle Eastern Archaeology. If he saw a student starting to fall asleep, he would jump up on a table in a very loud expressive voice call out the sleeping student name. Then he would ask the student a question about his lecture.
Granted Professor #1 and #2 are the two extremes. Rock bands to corporate trainers all use gestures in getting their message across.
Professor #3 – His name was Mr. Burkett. He taught Philosophy 101. He wore a tan sports jacket and cowboy boot. His beard was not really neatly trimmed. He would walk throughout the classroom during his lecture. Periodically, he would stop, look you directly in the eye as talked directly you about what he was lecturing. You felt he was your personal mentor for that one moment in time. I got an ‘A’ in that class.
It is rare you can find a memorable speech from words alone. Visual aids can add or detract from a speech. Thus ‘Death by PowerPoint’. Body language and physical presents is the most powerful.
At one International Toastmaster Conference the winner of that year’s conference main illustration was around changing a tire. To this day I can still picture, in my mind him changing a tire. The theme of his speech was about asking for help. What made him such a winner of the international conference? His gestures and body language.
Channeling the emotion of our presentation with hands, arm and facial expressions make our communication more memorable.
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