Help! I’m Making a Speech. What Should I Do With My Hands?
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Many speakers, when first starting out on their public speaking careers, feel very exposed and self-conscious when on stage. Probably, you can recall feeling the same at some point. And one of the most vexing problems speakers experience is just what to do with their hands that feels natural and unforced.
Being up on stage or standing in front of a room full of people as you prepare to deliver a speech simply magnifies the problem of what to do with your hands.
Is it acceptable to put your hands in your pockets? Or would it look odd just leaving them to hang limply by your sides? Or should you fling them wildly about in the belief that ‘grand gestures’ look natural from the audiences’ point of view?
And the more conscious you become of what to do with your hands, the more your focus will be diverted away from your speech and the more your nerves will begin to get the better of you.
So, give the following tips a go and you’ll soon find that you can forget all about your hands and concentrate fully on the job of delivering an audience-pleasing and enjoyable speech.
Learn to relax. It is a basic truth that you only begin to worry about what to do with your hands when you are feeling stressed and up tight. In your normal, day-to-day life you don’t give a second thought as to what your hands are doing as you speak to you family, colleagues and friends, do you? And the reason is solely because you feel at ease and are not experiencing any nervousness at all.
Take time to notice whether you regularly use hand gestures to enhance what you are saying in your day-to-day life. Try describing the shape of a spiral staircase to a friend or give them instructions on how to knot a tie. Whilst you are doing this, take a mental note of how you use your hands to help illustrate your words.
If you find that you naturally use hand gestures, then continue to do so when delivering your speech. Do what you always do and it won’t feel artificial or forced.
As a general rule, if you don’t feel comfortable using gestures, then don’t try to start!
Always remember that if you feel nervous on stage, your emotion may be unconsciously demonstrated by what your hands are doing. Are you clutching the table or lectern tightly, clenching your fists or constantly fiddling with your pen?
Realize that gestures such as desk banging, finger pointing and fist clenching will always appear to have hostile or negative overtones and may even be insulting to people belonging to certain cultures. Be certain to avoid these at all costs!
Carefully limit your gestures during your presentation or you will simply appear to be windmilling your way through your speech.
If you find that you really feel uncomfortable about how to use your hands during your speech, try spending some time learning some helpful relaxation techniques and practising the use of different hand gestures in front of a mirror. If you think that your hands look natural and unobtrusive, then so will your audience.
Always remember that although these gestures are physical in nature, they simply form another part of your communication with your audience. Just as your words go towards making up your speech, so do your actions.
Once you begin to understand how the use of gestures can naturally enhance and lend support to your words, you will begin to find that you are no longer thinking and worrying about what your hands are doing. Instead you will pleasantly surprised discover that you are using your gestures naturally and without giving them a second thought.
When you can do this, you can congratulate yourself on graduating to the next level of expertise in public speaking!
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