Consider that the most important visual you can show an audience is yourself. Add the fact that your voice is produced physically, and you realize that in one way or another body language (including an audience's unconscious physical response to you) joins content to help determine whether you are successful as a speaker.
Working with the body is a key element of my executive speech coaching and team presentation training. Below are 5 key areas every speaker needs to understand and practice to use body language powerfully and productively.
- Movement and gestures. This is where we all land when we think about body language and public speaking: "How can I use movement and gestures to be effective in my presentation?" Here's an easy formula to remember that will help you avoid any sleepy audience NODS: Neutral, Open, Defined, and Strong. You should begin in a neutral position with hands at your sides (it may feel awkward at first, but it looks fine). That keeps you open to your audience, so influence flows freely in both directions. Gesture sparingly, using defined, i.e., clean and limited hand movements; and make them strong. Do these things and your upper body movement will support and amplify what you say.
- Use of space. When you speak in public, a certain amount of space on the stage or floor is yours by right and you should claim it. Leaders know how to project power by the way they stand and move; and when you speak, you are a leader. Occupy space in a way that shows you are comfortable within it. Nothing demonstrates confidence like a person who is at ease in their own skin and with their place in the world. In speaking, the stage is your world. Show your listeners they can have confidence in what you're telling them by commanding the space around you. Don't overdo it, but don't minimize the area through which you move.
- Dealing with objects. Stage actors know that good actors use props, and bad actors are used by their props. This isn't just a clever expression. Inexperienced performers are discombobulated by a property -- a cigarette holder, a wine glass, even a sword or a gun. Solid professionals understand that the prop exists to help them define their character for the audience. So they use it in a way that only that character would. When you deal with objects in a presentation, from a remote clicker to a handout to the slide screen itself, find a way to help the object further your message and its impact. That object is there for a reason; or there may be more than one reason. Find as many as you can.
- Facial expressiveness. This one can be called the forgotten relative in the body language family gathering. The face is incredibly important to human experience, from recognizing another person, to understanding the subtle clues that underlie motive. Audience members depend upon your facial expressions to augment meaning. If you don't have an expressive face, go to the mirror and work on creating a link between what you are trying to express verbally, and how your facial expressions make your meaning as clear as possible. As part of your practice, give your entire talk without a sound coming out of your mouth, letting your face do all the communicating.
- Voice. As mentioned above, the voice is physical, so it is obviously a component of effective body language. Your voice is the most flexible communication instrument you own. You should learn how to use your voice to influence others, not only for voice improvement and speech improvement, but for the many ways vocal expressiveness indicates meaning and intention. Listen to speakers good and bad, and listen some more. Take a voice and diction course, or hire a speech coach. My motto is "Find Your True Voice." Literally and figuratively, it makes a difference in whether and how you are heard.
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