Public Speaking

188 CHAPTER 14^ Delivering Your Speech

Develop Effective Mannerisms

Although some aspects of your appearance are relatively fixed, to a significant degree

you can control your mannerisms. Gestures, posture, and eye contact are especially

important in this culture.

Control Your Gestures

Gestures are the movements you perform unwittingly during speech as part of your

expressive effort.^22 They range from large motions such as posture, walking, and gestur-

ing to very small movements such as raising one eyebrow. Bodily movements function

to supplement your words, display emotions, help audiences understand the structure of

your speech, and, in some cases, betray nervousness.^23

Supplementing with Gestures

It’s common to use gestures to emphasize an idea or to add to your words. For exam-

ple, you might say “It’s about this wide” and extend your hands to show the distance.

Pointing out something, such as an area on a map, is also common. A Harvard Business

Newsletter article says speakers can alert their audiences to the speech’s high points and

transitions because listeners want cues that help them listen better.^24 So consider using

posture and movements to emphasize your speech structure.

Here are a few ways to use bodily movements to add to your speech:

•   Make your gestures purposeful by planning where you’ll use them. It’s easy to wave

your arms about randomly or to repeat an annoying or distracting gesture.

•   To emphasize structure, students on speech teams learn to “walk their points.” They

begin the introduction in one place and then take a couple of steps to the right to

develop their first point, a few steps to the left signal the next point, and so on. The

conclusion is given from the starting position. It may seem awkward to walk every

point, but consider where and how movement could supplement your verbal transi-

tions and signposts.

Audiences look at facial
expressions, eye contact, and
posture, and they listen for
vocal qualities that disclose
a speaker’s attitude toward
them and the topic.

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