Selling with the Right Signals 69
When you are standing behind a lectern, use natural and ap-
propriate gestures. They don’t have to be big. The audience
doesn’t even have to see them, but using them gives you energy.
It pumps you up. It helps you embrace your audience. I like to
recommend offering the audience a hand movement on the initial
greeting, such as, “Good morning.” It brings presenter and audi-
ence together.
Sitting
Sitting is usually an easier com-
munication position than standing,
but it can be more tricky and de-
ceptive. This is because we’re likely
to feel more comfortable sitting,
even though we often look less
comfortable.
We like to sit back when we’re
relaxed.
We often let ourselves “sink
in.”
Sofas and easy chairs that
swivel and lean back especially
tend to trap us. When we lean
back, sink in, or swivel, we appear
to lose interest in the person with
whom we’re talking or the person
to whom we should be listening.
When someone is leaning, sinking, or swiveling, you’re getting a
signal that he or she is uninterested in the communication.
I remember William F. Buckley when he had a regularly sched-
uled television show. He leaned so far back in his chair that he
seemed completely uninterested in his guest. Worse, the audience
got the impression of a supremely inflated ego and that he was
looking down his nose at an inferior.
How to sit
If you lean back, you’re likely to send the signal that you just
don’t care about what you’re saying or with whom you’re talking.
There are many ways to appear
disinterested when sitting, such
as looking stiff and uncomfortable.