Gestures have a vocabulary all their own. The Spanish painter Goya charged as much to paint the hands as to paint the face, because the hands are the most difficult of all parts of the body to paint.
Delsarte studied for several years how the hands show emotion. He got so good at it that he could sit in a park and tell whether a baby was held by a maid or its mother by the intensity of the hands. I, too, have become interested in what hands say. When I watch a speaker, I watch the hands. I want to see whether gestures are spontaneous or programmed. I want to see whether the spontaneous gestures are repetitious or varied. My friend Haddon Robinson has one of the finest pairs of hands I know. I've tried to count the different formations his hands make, and the number gets astronomical. Yet they're absolutely spontaneous, and they're in harmony with what he's saying and with the sound of his voice. He has a large vocabulary of both gestures and words.
One of our former presidents could say something like "You know I love you," but he would make a hacking gesture. Some psychiatrist friends who used to watch him told me, "His hands tell you how much he really loves you." You don't use a hacking motion with a genuine, spontaneous expression of love.
Great music conductors, for example, will often not use a baton so they can communicate more clearly. The orchestra can read their hands better than the baton. The baton can give the beat or the accent, but hands can give the nuance.
Many people will prophesy with their hands. They'll let you know what's coming before they actually say it. The hands come alive before the voice does. And people detect this even if they're not aware of it.
Or you see somebody who points his finger at you like a pistol. You never expect a real friendly statement after that. The teacher points a finger at you and then reprimands you.
I've found speakers can't develop mastery of gestures quickly, but they can give themselves permission to improve. Sometimes people don't succeed because they're afraid to try. Any time we want to develop our skills, we start by giving ourselves permission to grow.
With gestures, the key is simply to make sure they're spontaneous and that they represent the voice and the mind. But give yourself permission to let them vary and be expressive.
Here's one to start with. If you're going to be delivering a climactic statement, instead of getting intense too soon, it's better to relax your body and back away a half step from the audience. Then just before you come into the climactic statement, step toward the audience and straighten up. That way your body as well as your voice projects the message.
Gestures also include giving people your eyes. In speaking, eyes are almost as important as the voice. Everyone knows the importance of eye contact, but the temptation I have is to zero in on a few people up front who are attentive. Maybe I'm insecure, but it's easier to talk to those people. I have to remind myself not to neglect those out on the wings. Like the farmer who's feeding the chickens, you have to throw the corn wide enough for everyone to get some. So I tell myself, "Remember the smaller chickens on the fringe." I want them to know I'm thinking of them, too.
Gestures lend emphasis and color to words. Your emotions overflow into your gestures and become one of the most powerful parts of your body language. What you say is either enhanced or diminished by your repertoire of gestures, so it is a good place to focus if you want to develop your speaking skills.
