Why Body Language is Important and How it Helps You Ace Your Presentations
Body language. I’m sure you’ve come across this rather common term. Does it carry any real significance? Does it have any value in this verbal world where words are building blocks of communication? Shouldn’t it be left to be used by animals who can’t communicate with English and are dependent on this mode of communication?
How can body language help you deliver flawless presentations? Is body language more important than the actual content?
If you wish to know, read on because these, and many other questions of similar nature will be addressed in this article. I will describe:
The history of body language
Its usefulness in expressing human nature
Its importance in presentations
Body-Language: History
Prior to the advent of words and languages, our ancestors used to communicate using non-verbal cues. These cues helped them understand each other and assisted in tasks like hunting and foraging. Thus, understanding body language in that era was crucial to the survival of our species. It was the sole and most reliable mode of communication.
Image source: Pixy.com |
Just like dominant members in a pack of wolves, a pride of lions or a group of gorillas uses body language to exert and show their authority, similarly, our tribal ancestors used it as a tool to establish their dominance or signal subservience.
Through the course of our evolution up to this point, body language hasn’t left us. In fact, it has only solidified in our personas and has gained more complexity. Body language is our primal instinct. It comes to us naturally. For thousands of years, we have adapted to it and made it not just a part, but the essence of our beings.
Body Language: Importance
“He who has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips. Betrayal oozes out of him at every pore”
-Sigmund Freud (The Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis)
So, no matter what we do, no matter how hard we try to conceal our emotions and feelings, our body language is ultimately going to show it. It is the essence of our personas; the behavioral essence. Human behavior is gauged on the parameter of movement and movement involves the body.
Clinical psychologists have always stressed on the usefulness of body language as a tool to study behavioral psychology. How the body moves, what gestures a person makes, his facial expressions, his stance while sitting or standing, his gait, the expression in his eyes, the tone of his voice. All these traits help psychologists paint a vivid picture of anyone’s persona on the canvas of their minds.
Body Language in Presentations
Having said all about the importance and background of body language, let’s turn our attention to its impact on presentations.
Focus on the How, not the What
When it comes to the domain of speaking, ‘how’ has more significance than ‘what’. How you present is far more important than what you present. Research proves it by saying that 65% of our communication is evaluated on the basis of non-verbal cues while the remaining 35% by verbal cues.
Express Yourself
Speaking is an art and all art is a form of expression. True, pure and honest expression. Fabricated body language won’t take you far as it clearly shows. The aura you radiate when you speak or present on something you’re passionate about, the conviction in your words, the firmness in your voice is evident.
The Power Zone
TED-talks are famous world over thanks to their simplicity, clarity and ease of access. Overtime, some common characteristics pertaining to the most successful TED speakers emerged. People studied these and developed them into principles.
In his book Talk Like TED, Carmine Gallo sums up his research of several years, studying thousands of TED speakers and the common success patterns emerging among them. One of the many valuable facts he found out was that the speakers who aced their presentations and mesmerized the public used to keep their hands in the power zone. Throughout their talk, they would keep their arms between their chin and waist-line. This proved to be a sign of energy that helped solidify their stance.
Goal Specific Stances
According to Dale Carnegie’s book ‘The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking’, there are three kinds of talks based on the goal they’re supposed to attain.
To persuade
To inform
To demand action
Based on the goal you want to attain; you have to use the most suitable body language stance. We’ll cover all three talks one by one and the stances you can use to better achieve them.
The Talk to Inform
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Image source: Pixabay |
This is usually the simplest type of talk to deliver, used often by lecturers or teachers. However, it can get extremely difficult to keep the audience interested because these kind of talks are most often boring. They can cover statistics, facts or theories. It’s your job to make sure the audience stays interested throughout the course of your talk.
And since content doesn’t help much, you have to make up through expression, which is body-language. Now how do you do that? Simply by being lively.
When you’re interested in your topic, your persona will reflect that in your talk. It’ll give your talk charisma and charm. Your facial expressions, eyes, the color of your face changing as you speak, your intonation, everything will be real and spontaneous and will assist you in achieving your goal.
The Talk to Persuade
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Image source: Pixabay |
These can be tricky in a sense that they require you to make the listeners agree with your point of view or at least give it thought and consideration.
Motivational speakers often give these kinds of talks.
Remember, you can only change someone else’s worldview if you are able to present yours as a better, more viable alternative.
Stand up straight, with your shoulders back, make eye contact and speak loud and clear as though each person in the audience owes you money. This is something that has helped me throughout my presentations.
The Talk to Demand Action
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Image source: Pixabay |
In these talks, you are required not only to change someone’s opinion, but to go one step further and persuade them to take action.
Business people often have to make these kind of talks to convince people to buy their product. Sometimes it’s used by social workers to motivate people to donate to a cause. Whatever the case, in order to persuade, you need tools from your arsenal of body language.
Be polite, but firm, look them in the eye and be reassuring as if you are promising them something better. Use gestures at appropriate times and remember to stay in the power zone.
In short, there is no hard and fast rule to master body language. It’s something that comes with practice. So, keep experimenting with new things and you’ll shine!
Ibrahim H. Chakwal, Pakistan
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