Learn to control your hand gestures and see if you are making any instinctive gestures which you need to cut out.
Right, what do I do with my hands during a talk? It’s a good question. I don’t know about you but it’s always been a problem for me.
Unless you’re giving a talk on primate behaviour it’s not a great idea to scratch your head or other parts of your body.
You might say “well, I’m hardly likely to do that, am I?” but you’d be surprised how often people are unaware of what they are doing with their hands and fingers until someone points it out.
It’s fine to use your hands but only to accompany your talk. Hand in hand.
For example, you can use your fingers to present a list of important points or a sequence of activities.
Use your hands or fingers to reinforce the description of something small. Or spread out your arms if you are describing something huge.
Or to emphasize a personal conviction or something you really believe.
Effective gestures can have a significant impact on the audience.
So learn to control your hand gestures. It is not so hard and your talk will benefit greatly.
