Since the pandemic I've been delivering a lot of webinar training and conference presentations online. One of the nice thing about this (apart from being able to do it from home) is that when I'm delivering my session I can see myself and think about my body language while I'm presenting. I usually present standing up and use a bluetooth headset so that I can move around a bit and step back from the camera.
Stepping back from the camera gives it a wider field of vision and enables the viewer to see most of the top half of my body, so I can use more of the hand gestures I would use in a physical classroom.
So this week I've been looking at hand gestures and how I can improve the way I use them. This is something we can also help our students with.
Here is a list of hand gestures and when to use them that I got from ChatGPT.
Hand gestures
- Open Palms (Facing Up or Outward) - When to use: When introducing yourself, welcoming the audience, or making a key point. It builds trust.
- Counting on Fingers - When to use: When listing key points (e.g., “There are three main reasons…”). It helps the audience follow your logic.
- The “Precision Grip” (Fingers Pinched Together) - When to use: When explaining complex ideas or emphasising a small but important detail.
- Hand Spread Wide (Arms Slightly Open) - When to use: When making bold or expansive statements, or expressing big ideas.
- Steepling Fingers (Fingertips Touching, Hands Form a Triangle) - When to use: When answering questions or pausing to reflect.
- Chopping Motion - When to use: To stress a point clearly or transition between topics. Best used with strong statements.
- Bringing Hands Together - When to use: When drawing different ideas together or concluding a point.
- Palm Down Gesture - When to use: To manage pace or quiet down the room. It subtly signals grounding and finality.
You could use this list with students and get them to watch some videos from TedTalks with the sound off and just focus on the speakers' hands to see how they use them.
Then get them to listen and see if they can connect the use of the hand gestures to when and why they are using them and the kinds of expressions they are using.
Here's a great TedTalk from Tim Urban on procrastination that you could use.
You could also think about your own teaching.
- Are you using any of these gestures?
- Could you use them?
- What else could you do to improve your use of body language?
Make a video of yourself teaching and watch it silently and see how well you communicate with your body language.
You can check out the lesson plans from my series on multimodal literacy here: https://payhip.com/peacheypublications/collection/multimodal-literacy-lessons
Comments ()