Sagot :
Answer:
Use your hands to emphasize your message when speaking
YOUR SPEAKING POSTURE
How you position your body when you speak communicates its own set of visual messages to an audience.
More than anything, it reflects your attitude, telling your listeners whether you’re confident, alert, and in
command of yourself and the speaking situation.
Good speaking posture has other benefits to a speaker. It helps you to breathe properly and project
your voice effectively. It also provides a good starting point from which to gesture or move your body in
any direction. And by helping you to feel both alert and comfortable, it helps decrease nervous tension and
minimize random, distracting movements.
What constitutes proper speaking posture? Ask another person to read the next two paragraphs aloud as
you follow the instructions:
Stand straight but not rigid, with your feet about six to 12 inches apart and one slightly ahead of the
other. Balance your weight evenly on the balls of your feet. Lean forward just a little. Your knees should be
straight but not locked. Relax your shoulders, but don’t let them droop. Keep your chest up and your stomach
in. Your head should be erect and your chin up, but not uncomfortably so. Let your arms hang naturally at
your sides, with your fingers slightly curled.
Now, take a few deep, full breaths. Do you feel comfortable? Your stance should be alert but not stiff,
relaxed but not sloppy. If this position doesn’t feel natural for you, try repositioning your feet slightly until your
body feels in balance.
Do not maintain the same position throughout a presentation. But when you move from one spot to
another, perform a gesture or vary your stance, be sure to balance your body once your movement is concluded.
GESTURES
A gesture is a specific bodily movement that reinforces a verbal message or conveys a particular thought or
emotion. Although gestures may be made with the head, shoulders, or even the legs and feet, most are made
with the hands and arms.
Your hands can be marvelous tools of communication when you speak. But many inexperienced speakers
are unsure what to do with their hands. Some try to get them out of the way by putting them in their pockets or behind their backs. Others unconsciously relieve nervous tension by performing awkward, distracting
movements. A few speakers over-gesture out of nervousness, waving their arms and hands wildly.
A speaker’s gestures can suggest very precise meaning to an audience. The Indians of North America
devised a sign language that enabled people with entirely different spoken languages to converse. Sign
language has also made it possible for deaf people to communicate without speaking.
The use of gestures in communication varies from one culture to the next. In some cultures, such as those
of Southern Europe and the Middle East, people use their hands freely and expressively when they speak. In
other cultures, people use gestures less frequently and in a more subdued way.
The specific gesture we make and the meanings we attach to them are products of our cultural training.
Just as cultures differ, so do the perceived meanings of gestures. For example, nodding one’s head up and
down signifies agreement or assent in Western cultures – but in some parts of India this gesture means the
exact opposite. A common gesture used in the United States – that of making a circle with the thumb and
forefinger to indicate approval – is considered an insult and an obscenity in many areas of the world.
To be effective, a speaker’s gestures must be purposeful – even if they’re performed unconsciously. They
must be visible to the audience. They must mean the same thing to the audience that they mean to the
speaker. And they must reflect what’s being said, as well as the total personality behind the message.
Explanation: hope it helps