Yes, even in this online world we still need to gesture!
I’m going to share best practice when it comes to gesturing on video meetings, presentation and more. But firstly, why do we gesture?
We gesture for 3 reasons.
1. We gesture because gestures guide the eyes of the people who are listening to us.
2. Secondly, gestures actually free the body. Opening the shoulders makes it’s hard for the diaphragm to jam and we can actually breathe.
3. Gestures can be used as a memory technique. We use gestures so we can remember what we’re saying!
Gesturing, in general, must always be congruent and non-repeat. This means that your gestures must have meaning, whether virtual or in person, as well as non-repeat. It’s meaningless to repeat a gesture more than twice in a row. However, when we gesture in the virtual world, there are added rules to the above.
Firstly, we are no longer three dimensional, we’re two dimensional! We must be mindful that putting our hands out in front, which puts them closer to the camera will cause distortion. The closer to the camera, the more distorted. So, you learn to gesture in a two-dimensional way.
This does mean distorting your arms at times, but its worth it for the engagement and freedom. Secondly, as your own camera-person watch that your hands stay in view. Don’t stretch and go beyond what the viewers can see. It’s also important to use the whole screen around you, but never the area across your face and please don’t touch your face or hair.
To see virtual gesturing in action, follow the link below to my Youtube page (and don’t forget to subscribe while you’re there!)
Dr Louise Mahler
Moving from the Vienna State Opera back to Australia, Louise observed a ‘missing ingredient’ in corporate leadership and completed an award- winning PhD around the unsung wisdom of the mind-body-voice connection she named Vocal Intelligence.
Her highly participative sessions mean you leave knowing, understanding and even embodying the change. You will be transformed from the darkness of confusion to the lightness of laughter and song.
Louise’s qualifications include: B.Econ; B. Mus; Post Grad Dip Music; L.Mus.A; Master of Applied Science in Organisational Change as well as a PhD in the faculty of Business. She is also accredited in MBTI, a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistics and certified in level 1 and 2 of Estill voice work. In 2006 Louise was the recipient of RMIT’s award for innovation in PhD research.
She appears on TV and Radio for her work on Presence and Influencing for senior leaders in high-stake engagement. Having worked with Fortune 500 clients including BHP, IBM, Adobe, Gartner, Transdev after a lifetime of being a communications expert Dr. Louise Mahler will introduce you to new ways to engage and communicate in business.
