“What do I do with my HANDS when speaking or giving a presentation?”

 

 

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“What do I do with my hands while I’m giving a speech or a presentation?” is one of the very common questions that I get asked. Especially if you spend all this time putting together the right content for your presentation, you practice it multiple times, and then you get up on front of your audience and all the fidgets and movements of your hands, distract them, but very often, it can distract you as well.

So what I’d like to share with you are 3 tips on what you should try to avoid doing with your hands when you speak, two tips of what you CAN do with your hands while you speak, and one idea to just keep in mind as we move forward.

First, the 3 things you don’t want do: The first thing is you want to avoid fidgeting. That means trying to figure out what to do with your hands when you are in front of that audience. It’s usually the first 30 seconds of any speech or presentation when we are the most uncomfortable as we try to get familiar with our spot in front of the group that this is the worst, but this is the time when our ands will go in our pockets, or we will try to touch things, move things, and just trying to get comfortable.Be aware of what it is you are doing with your hands. I have seen people put their hands in their pockets, take them out a few times, clue into the fact that they are fidgeting too much, and then they make a huge effort to stop, and that’s something that you need to be aware of… Be conscious of how much are you fidgeting, and how much is it distracting YOU from what you want to say, and how much is it distracting your audience.

Secondly, try to avoid holding anything in your hands. Now certainly you can hold a wireless presenter to move your slides, and if there’s anything you need to show your audience, of course you can pick that up. But avoid holding things like pens because we will be very likely to play with them unconsciously, with the cap or clicking them, or if you’re holding a paper. I’ve seen many speakers fold the paper, roll the paper, or play with it a myriad of other ways, which has the double disadvantage of creating noise, PLUS it also distracts the audience. So try to avoid holding things in your hands.

If you feel like you need to hold your notes because you can’t quite remember everything you want to say and are worried about blanking out, the best thing is to put the notes in front of you, or on a side table, somewhere within reach. Take a step forward when you need to look at them, and then step away from them and return your attention to your audience. That’s the best way to use notes, so that you don’t have to hold them.

The third thing you want to be aware of is not to distract yourself with things ON you. That could mean playing with your rings, even holding your hands too tightly, fidgeting with your hair, flipping it around, touching your glasses too much. Be aware of what’s going on with your body, and resist the urge to touch and move.

And now here are two things that you DO want to do with your hands while you’re speaking.

First of all, keep your hands above the belt line. So what that means is, when you’re speaking with your hands lower down, it’s not a position of power. And when you are in front of a room, you certainly want to project a position of power. So keep your hands apart, keep them open to the audience, and move them naturally.

Secondly, RELAX – and be yourself. It’s okay to speak with your hands. It’s okay to have your own personality as a speaker, and understand what your speaking style is.

Ultimately, we may not always be 100% comfortable with what we do with our hands, but something to think about as you go forward is that it takes time to develop your speaking style, and it takes time to figure out what feels comfortable or not.

You may find that you LIKE to speak with your hands. You may find that you’re a better speaker with your hands by your sides, and that’s okay — as long as it fits your personality and your style.

I’m Suzannah Baum. If you’d like to talk more about your delivery issues, and what you should do with YOUR hands, or anything else that will help you present yourself in the best way possible in front of your audience, let’s get in touch.