Your body speaks its own language. One study found that when listeners judge the emotional content of a speech, they give most weight to facial expression and body movement (55 percent); followed by vocal qualities (38 percent); and the words (7 percent).
What are the keys to body language? Your posture, eyes, face and hands.
Posture. Stand upright, your knees slightly flexed. Keep your hands relaxed at your sides, or loosely clasped at your waist. Move around now and then. Take a few steps back, forward or to either side. After you move, stay still for a while. Don’t pace or “jockey” back and forth. Avoid shifting your weight between legs. (If you speak from a lectern, you can rest your hands at either side. But don’t grip it like it’s your life preserver.)
Eyes. Use your eyes to project confidence and credibility. Divide your audience into three sections – left, center and right. Take turns looking at a single person in each section, holding your gaze for a few seconds. Move across sections in random order. Everyone will sense that you are talking directly to them. Be mindful: darting or downcast eyes suggest tension, even dishonesty. When you speak to slides, glance at that material from time to time. But look at your audience for almost your entire talk.
If you speak from a script you may ask, “How can I look at the audience and read my speech at the same time?” Print your speech in 16-point type. Practice looking at your script, absorbing a phrase or sentence, then looking up and delivering what you’ve absorbed. Rehearse several times. You will learn to finish sentences with your eyes up. Over time, you will learn to do this in a natural rhythm.
Hands. Use your hands to emphasize a word or phrase. Simply open a hand, or both hands. Avoid contrived gestures like random hand motions, or rubbing your chin. Don’t cross your arms, put your hands on your hips, cover your mouth, or wipe your brow. Watch professional speakers. See what gestures work for them, and try them yourself.
Face. Each of us exhibits thousands of facial expressions. Professional actors learn how to command these expressions; we don’t. But you can put your best face forward. Relax. Let your expressions reinforce your words. Above all, use your smile. Smile when you take the stage. Smile when you say something positive. Smile at the end. Sincere smiles work for you.