nonverbal communication during presentation

The Power of Nonverbal Communication in Public Speaking

• Speaking tips , Presentations , Psychology

Public speaking is more than just the words you say. It’s about how you say them, how you connect with your audience, and the messages you convey through your nonverbal communication. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the significance of nonverbal communication , the key elements that make up nonverbal cues, and practical strategies to harness this power to become a more effective and persuasive public speaker .

Table of Contents

The Silent Language

Nonverbal communication, often referred to as “the silent language,” encompasses all the ways we convey information without using words. It’s a potent form of communication because it operates on a subconscious level, influencing how our message is received and interpreted by our audience.

This encompasses a wide range of cues, including:

• Body Language : Your posture, gestures and physical movements.
• Eye Contact : The way you make and maintain eye contact with your audience.
• Proximity : How close or far you are from your audience or other individuals on the stage.
• Appearance : Your clothing, grooming, and overall appearance, which can influence your audience’s perception.
• Use of Space : How you move around the stage or speaking area, including gestures and body positioning. This even includes how you use the frame on camera if you’re speaking online. 
• Silence : The pauses and moments of silence in your speech, which can convey meaning and emphasis.
• Facial Expressions: We often have a poker face which does’t do much to enhance the message we’re aiming to convey. Facial expressions that go with the message can amplify your impact.  

Photo by Natasha Hall on Unsplash

The Impact of Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication plays a critical role in public speaking for several reasons:

1. Conveys Emotion and Authenticity

Your facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice allow you to express emotions authentically. When your nonverbal cues align with your message, it adds depth and authenticity to your talk. For example, a smile can convey warmth and approachability, while a furrowed brow may signal concern or seriousness.

2. Enhances Message Clarity

Nonverbal cues can clarify your message, making it easier for your audience to understand and remember. Hand gestures can illustrate key points, and vocal variations can emphasize critical information. These cues act as signposts that guide your audience through your speech.

Pro-tip: if you over-do hand gestures or use repetitive ones, they can be distracting and damage your impact instead of enhancing it.

3. Builds Connection

Effective nonverbal communication helps you establish a strong connection with your audience. Maintaining eye contact, for instance, fosters a sense of engagement and rapport. A speaker who appears confident and approachable through their body language is more likely to connect with the audience .

4. Captures Attention

Engaging nonverbal cues can capture and maintain your audience’s attention. Movement, gestures, and vocal changes can add dynamism to your speech, preventing your audience from becoming disengaged or bored.

In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with notifications and urgent tasks, gaining attention is the real currency.

5. Demonstrates Confidence

Confidence is a quality that every public speaker should exude. Nonverbal cues such as upright posture, steady eye contact, and controlled body movements convey confidence to your audience. When you appear confident, your audience is more likely to trust and respect your message.

Key Elements of Effective Nonverbal Communication

To harness the power of nonverbal communication in public speaking, it’s essential to focus on specific elements and techniques. Let’s explore these key elements:

1. Body Language

Our posture, movements, and gestures are like an open book, revealing our emotions, confidence level, and authenticity. Here’s how body language can enhance or hinder your public speaking:

Posture : Stand or sit upright with your shoulders back. Good posture exudes confidence and presence. Conversely, slouching or crossing your arms can signal insecurity or defensiveness.

Gestures : Use purposeful hand gestures to emphasize points or convey information. Avoid excessive or distracting movements.

Movement : Move purposefully and with intent. Don’t pace nervously, but rather use movement to engage different sections of the audience or transition between points. Moving purposefully and making eye contact with your audience conveys that you’re fully engaged and interested in their response.

Note for speaking online : people often ignore movement and body language when speaking on camera. But in this context, it’s even more important to be more active and confident as the audience receives less information about your presence. 

Enhance your on-camera body language by being aware of the frame, using gestures that are within the frame and being intentional with the frequency and variance of your gestures.

Credibility : Avoiding distracting movements, such as fidgeting, pacing excessively or swinging in your chair. This enhances your credibility as a speaker and shows that you’re grounded (literally!).

2. Eye Contact

Maintain Connection : Make eye contact with individuals throughout your audience to create a sense of connection and engagement. This is possible to do online as well – look into the camera instead of looking at yourself or your presentation. 

Avoid Staring : Don’t fixate on one person or object for too long, as it can make your audience uncomfortable. Instead, distribute your gaze evenly.

Use of Notes : If using notes or slides, ensure you don’t rely on them excessively. Maintain eye contact while referencing your materials. Pro-tip: Don’t have full sentences on either your slides or your scripts. Have keywords instead and string together the sentences on the spot- this enhances improvisation and makes you sound fresh and natural.

3. Proximity

Your proximity to the audience and your use of personal space can create a sense of intimacy or formality:

Close Proximity: Stepping closer to the audience during a compelling point can create a feeling of closeness and connection.

This works in the online context as well – you’ll notice how the audience reacts when you lean in or when you sit back.

4. Appearance

Dress Appropriately : Your attire should align with the formality and expectations of your audience and the occasion. Dressing well can enhance your credibility.

When in doubt, go a bit more formal vs casual as a rule of thumb. 

5. Use of Space

Stage Presence : Occupy the stage with confidence. Move with purpose, and use the space to engage different parts of the audience.

Avoid Excessive Movement : While movement is essential, avoid excessive pacing or aimless wandering, which can distract from your message.

Photo by Igreja Dimensão

Strategic Pauses : Incorporate strategic pauses into your speech to allow your audience to absorb information and emphasize key points.

There is a lot of power in the pause – use it liberally throughout your talk, presentation or podcast.

Control Filler Words : Minimize the use of filler words like “um,” “uh,” or “like.” Silence is preferable to fillers and indicates thoughtfulness.

7. Facial Expressions

Your face is a canvas of emotions, and your audience is keenly observing it. Expressions can either reinforce or contradict your spoken words:

• Smiling : A genuine smile can instantly connect you with your audience and convey warmth and approachability.
• Micro-expressions: You can say a lot with your expressions. Train your face to express emotions intentionally instead of leaving it up to the audience to insert their own emotions.
• Expressive Eyes : Your eyes can express enthusiasm, surprise, or concern, adding depth to your message.

Practical Strategies for Harnessing Nonverbal Communication

Now that we’ve explored the key elements of nonverbal communication, let’s dive into practical strategies for harnessing this power in your public speaking:

1. Practice, Practice, Practice

Effective nonverbal communication requires practice. Rehearse your talk or presentation multiple times, paying attention to your body language, tone of voice, and eye contact. Recording yourself can provide valuable feedback.

2. Audience Analysis

Consider your audience’s expectations, cultural norms, and preferences when it comes to nonverbal cues. Tailor your approach to resonate with your specific audience.

3. Get Feedback

Seek feedback from trusted colleagues, mentors, or speech coaches. They can offer insights into how your nonverbal cues are perceived and provide guidance for improvement.

Nausheen working with top female LinkedIn influencer Lara Acosta , giving feedback on her talk.

4. Use Visualization

Before your talk, visualize yourself delivering it with confidence and impactful nonverbal communication. Visualization can help reduce anxiety and boost your performance.

5. Mindfulness

Stay present and mindful while speaking. Be aware of your nonverbal cues and their alignment with your message. Correct any unintentional cues that may undermine your message.

6. Rehearse Transitions

Pay special attention to transitions in your speech. Smooth transitions with appropriate nonverbal cues can maintain your audience’s engagement and guide them through your message.

7. Record and Review

Record your speeches or presentations whenever possible. Reviewing the footage allows you to identify areas for improvement in your nonverbal communication. Build this as a part of your speaking and practice routine and you’ll grow your speaking skills exponentially. 

8. Seek Role Models

Study accomplished public speakers and observe how they use nonverbal communication to enhance their message. Emulate their effective techniques.

Body language is underrated and super powerful as a tool in making you an impactful and memorable speaker.

Great non verbal communication can elevate your message and captivate your audience.

By mastering the key elements of body language , tone of voice, eye contact, appearance, use of space, and silence, and by implementing practical strategies for improvement, you can become a more effective and persuasive speaker. 

Remember that nonverbal communication is not just an afterthought – it’s an integral part of the message itself. Embrace this power, and you’ll find that your impact as a public speaker transcends the spoken word alone.

If you want to work with an amazing coach who can guide you through this process of overcoming your stage fright , might I recommend myself? Find out how you can work with me and take advantage of my 10,000+ hours on stage and on camera to become a better speaker. 

Nausheen I. Chen

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10 Tips for Improving Your Nonverbal Communication

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

Strong communication skills can help you in both your personal and professional life. While verbal and written communication skills are important, research has shown that nonverbal behaviors make up a large percentage of our daily interpersonal communication.

How can you improve your nonverbal communication skills? Paying closer attention to your nonverbal signals is an excellent place to start. You can also focus on factors such as tone of voice, eye contact, body language, and the context in which the communication occurs.

The following tips can help you learn to read other people's nonverbal signals and enhance your ability to communicate effectively. With practice, you can become more adept at conveying meaning without saying a word.

Pay Attention to Nonverbal Signals

People can communicate information in numerous ways, so pay attention to a variety of signals including:

• Body movements
• Eye contact
• Tone of voice

All of these signals can convey important information that is not put into words. For example, eye contact can help establish how attentive a person is. Tone of voice might reveal hints about their emotional state. Even posture can help convey how interested and engaged a person is in a conversation.

By paying closer attention to other people's unspoken behaviors, you will improve your own ability to communicate nonverbally.

Look for Incongruent Behaviors

You should pay careful attention if someone's words do not match their nonverbal behaviors. For example, someone might tell you they are happy while frowning and staring at the ground.

When words fail to match up with nonverbal signals, people often ignore what has been said and focus instead on unspoken expressions of moods, thoughts, and emotions . Therapists, for example, utilize these incongruencies to look for how a client might feel during a session.

So when someone says one thing, but their body language suggests something else, it can be helpful to pay extra attention to those subtle nonverbal cues. 

Be aware that other factors might contribute to these differences. Physical challenges may affect a person's ability to convey signals, so consider other reasons why words and behaviors might not match up.

Focus on Tone of Voice

Your tone of voice can convey a wealth of information, ranging from enthusiasm to disinterest to anger. Tone can be an effective way to amplify your message.

Start noticing how your tone of voice affects how others respond to you and try using your tone to emphasize ideas that you want to communicate.

For example, if you want to show genuine interest in something, express your enthusiasm by using an animated tone of voice. Such signals not only convey your feelings about a topic; they can also help generate interest in the people listening to you speak.

Researchers have found that tone of voice can affect how people respond to healthcare practitioners. Patients report greater satisfaction when treated by surgeons who use a non-dominant tone of voice. People who use more vocal variety in tone of voice are rated as more trustworthy and attentive.

Use Good Eye Contact

Good eye contact is another essential nonverbal communication skill. When people fail to look others in the eye, it can seem as if they are evading or trying to hide something. On the other hand, too much eye contact can seem confrontational or intimidating.

While eye contact is an essential part of communication, it's important to remember that good eye contact does not mean staring fixedly into someone's eyes. How can you tell how much eye contact is appropriate?

Some communication experts recommend intervals of eye contact lasting three to four seconds. Effective eye contact should feel natural and comfortable for you and the person you are speaking with.

Ask Questions

If you are confused about another person's nonverbal signals, don't be afraid to ask questions. A good idea is to repeat back your interpretation of what has been said and ask for clarification. Some examples of this:

• "So what you are saying is that..."
• "Do you mean that we should..."
• "What I'm hearing is that you think..."

Such questions can help clarify a conversation and encourage the other person to keep talking. These questions are part of active listening and help demonstrate your interest and engagement in the conversation.

Sometimes simply asking such questions can lend a great deal of clarity to a situation.

For example, a person might be giving off certain nonverbal signals because they have something else on their mind. By inquiring further into their message and intent, you might get a better idea of what they are really trying to say.

Use Signals to Add Meaning

Remember that verbal and nonverbal communication work together to convey a message. You can improve your spoken communication by using body language that reinforces and supports what you are saying. This can be especially useful when making presentations or speaking to a large group.

For example, suppose your goal is to appear confident and prepared during a presentation. In that case, you will want to focus on sending nonverbal signals that ensure that others see you as self-assured and capable. You can strike a self-confident stance by:

• Standing firmly in one place
• Keeping your shoulders back
• Keeping your weight balanced on both feet

Matching your body language to your verbal messages can help convey greater meaning and clarify your intentions. Body movements and stance are important, but facial expressions, eye gaze, mouth movements, gestures, and personal space are also essential components.

Look at Signals as a Whole

Another important part of good nonverbal communication skills involves being able to take a more holistic approach to what a person is communicating. A single gesture can mean any number of things or maybe even nothing at all.

The key to accurately reading nonverbal behavior is looking for groups of signals reinforcing a common point.

If you place too much emphasis on just one signal out of many, you might come to an inaccurate conclusion about what a person is trying to say.

For example, imagine that a person sounds and looks confident in their words and body language, but you notice that they don't make much eye contact. If you were to base your assessment on eye gaze alone, you might conclude that they were anxious or unsure, when in reality, they are just tired or distracted.

Consider the Context

When you are communicating with others, always consider the situation and the context in which the communication occurs. Some situations require more formal behaviors that might be interpreted very differently in any other setting.

Consider whether or not nonverbal behaviors are appropriate for the context. If you are trying to improve your own nonverbal communication, concentrate on ways to make your signals match the level of formality necessitated by the situation.

For example, the body language and nonverbal communication you utilize at work are probably very different from the sort of signals you would send on a casual Friday night out with friends. Strive to match your nonverbal signals to the situation to ensure that you are conveying the message you really want to send.  

Be Aware That Signals Can be Misread

According to some, a firm handshake indicates a strong personality while a weak handshake is taken as a lack of fortitude. This example illustrates an important point about the possibility of misreading nonverbal signals. A weak handshake might actually indicate something else entirely, such as arthritis.

Always remember to look for groups of behavior. A person's overall demeanor is far more telling than a single gesture viewed in isolation.

Interpreting nonverbal communication is complex and relies on various abilities, including interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence . Understanding that situations can be misread, different factors can affect how a person comes across, and the impact of your own biases can help you better interpret different nonverbal signals.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Some people just seem to have a knack for using nonverbal communication effectively and correctly interpreting signals from others. These people are often described as being able to "read people."  

In reality, nonverbal communication is a skill you can improve. You can build this skill by paying careful attention to nonverbal behavior and practicing different types of nonverbal communication with others.

By noticing nonverbal behavior and practicing your own skills, you can dramatically improve your communication abilities.

Nonverbal communication is complex and varied. There's is no single approach or signal that is appropriate in every context. Being more aware of how nonverbal signals impact interpersonal relationships can help you learn to use nonverbal communication more effectively 

A Word From Verywell

Nonverbal communication skills are essential and can make it easier to convey your point and to read what others are trying to tell you. Some people seem to come by these skills quite naturally, but anyone can improve their nonverbal skills with practice.

Park SG, Park KH. Correlation between nonverbal communication and objective structured clinical examination score in medical students .  Korean J Med Educ . 2018;30(3):199-208. doi:10.3946/kjme.2018.94

Foley GN, Gentile JP. Nonverbal communication in psychotherapy .  Psychiatry (Edgmont) . 2010;7(6):38-44.

Hietanen JK. Affective eye contact: an integrative review .  Front Psychol . 2018;9:1587. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01587

Jarick M, Bencic R. Eye contact is a two-way street: arousal is elicited by the sending and receiving of eye gaze information.   Front Psychol . 2019;10:1262. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01262

Scientific American. Eye contact: how long is too long ?

Pádua Júnior FP, Prado PH, Roeder SS, Andrade EB. What a smile means: contextual beliefs and facial emotion expressions in a non-verbal zero-sum game .  Front Psychol . 2016;7:534. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00534

Tipper CM, Signorini G, Grafton ST.  Body language in the brain: constructing meaning from expressive movement .  Front Hum Neurosci . 2015;9:450. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2015.00450

Foley GN, Gentile JP. Nonverbal communication in psychotherapy.   Psychiatry (Edgmont) . 2010;7(6):38–44.

Kret ME. Emotional expressions beyond facial muscle actions. A call for studying autonomic signals and their impact on social perception.   Front Psychol . 2015;6:711. Published 2015 May 27. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00711

Evola V, Skubisz J. Coordinated Collaboration and Nonverbal Social Interactions: A Formal and Functional Analysis of Gaze, Gestures, and Other Body Movements in a Contemporary Dance Improvisation Performance.   J Nonverbal Behav . 2019;43(4):451–479. doi:10.1007/s10919-019-00313-2

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Public Speaking: Nonverbal

Criteria for success.

• You feel confident in your movements and body posture.
• You maintain eye contact and forward-facing movements during the talk.
• You incorporate power poses when necessary.
• Your body movements flow naturally with your presentation and slides.
• Any movement that doesn’t support your main message is minimized.

Identify your purpose

A public presentation is more than just presenting information, it is also about engaging the audience and captivating their attention. If it wasn’t through our physical engagement, we might as well give the audience members an audio recording or slide deck instead. As a presenter, we attempt to liven the verbal messages with nonverbal gestures. Whether through body language, movement, or stage presence, these nonverbal components are just as important as the slides and talk you have practiced and prepared for. Incorporating conscious movements that serve to enhance how your message is perceived by your audience can help you:

• Engage your audience. Posture, gestures or movements, and your physical location on the stage are all factors that can be incorporated to create a story-telling effect that will keep your audience engaged throughout your presentation.
• Feel more confident. Strong body postures (e.g., power poses) convey confidence and a sense of importance during your talk.

Analyze your audience

Many audience members will arrive with the intention of learning more about your work and gaining some insight about your field. You can do more by also delivering an impactful and engaging talk that viewers can take home and remember. Audience types will dictate how you present yourself. For example, formal talks require formal attire, and this is also true in the types of nonverbal communication you can incorporate. Defined posture and deliberate movements are a must for professional talks, whereas more dynamic movements may be appealing for more casual and friendly presentations.

Similarly, the environment in which you are presenting will also determine your style. Poster presentations can be more informal with casual movements to guide the viewer. Department talks, on the other hand, should have movements that flow fluidly with your talk to guide the audience in your longer discussions.

Use eye contact to engage your audience

Possibly one of the most intimidating aspects of a talk is to look at the audience and to see their eyes gazing back at you. It is very common to escape eye contact by looking at your notes, the floor, or turning your back on your audience to face your slides. However, to be an effective presenter it is necessary to overcome these crutches in order to engage your audience. Making eye contact will help the audience feel important, like you are actually talking to them and not just giving a rehearsed speech.

If you already feel comfortable maintaining eye contact, remember to engage the entire audience. A few suggestions are:

• If it’s a large room, turn your head or even body to talk to all corners of the room, not just the people in the middle.
• Rather than just scanning the audience, can you take time to make one-on-one eye contact with individuals? Use this as an opportunity to gauge the audience’s level of interest. Seeing how they respond to your slides, transitions, etc. can help you adjust your talk as you go.

If making eye contact is challenging for you, here are two suggestions to help you work on this skill:

• Rather than trying to make eye contact with individuals, try looking at someone’s forehead, a colorful shirt, or the cushion of someone’s seat to create the illusion that you are making eye contact with the general audience. Alternatively, if picking out details is too distracting, you can look at or just above people’s heads to give the illusion of making eye contact.
• Once you feel comfortable looking into the audience, pick one or two places and go back and forth between these places during your talk to engage the entire room.

Emphasize deliberate movements and minimize unnecessary distractions (maximize signal-to-noise)

Here, we define signal as any movements that add substance to your talk and further engages the audience, such as conveying a message with your hands, or making eye contact with the audience.

Noise, on the other hand, is any unnecessary movements that distract the viewers, such as fidgeting or repetitive motions. Move with purpose. Do not ruffle your pockets or rock back and forth. Instead, present a straight, upright posture with arm movements that match the pace and flow of your talk. Adding purposeful movement to signify changes in ideas or to emphasize important points can add another layer of engagement to your talk. Some examples include:

• If you are comparing two concepts, physically weigh them out with your hands to convey the difference as if your hands were a scale.
• Casually walk to the other side of the stage when transitioning between ideas to physically cue the viewers that there is a change in topic.
• With a straight arm, point in the direction of the slide that has an important message. Make your movement distinct to indicate that the audience should focus on the slide, and not you.

Overall, this “art form” is unique to each person based on level of comfort and ability. We highly recommend using the Communication Lab to ask about how you can best utilize body movements to further enhance your talk. Alternatively, ask a friend for feedback, film yourself, or practice in front of a mirror to get a sense at what actions you naturally do during a talk, and reflect on how to change or enhance them.

(The metaphor of “signal-to-noise ratio” comes from Jean-luc Doumont’s book Trees, Maps, and Theorems .)

Use good posture and incorporate power poses

Many of us are rarely conscious of our posture, yet this is the first impression you will make to your audience even before you speak. A straight back and a level chin with your eyes facing the audience will show that you are prepared and ready.

Power poses can help assert confidence and importance during your talk. You are, in fact, the most important person in the room, so use power poses to make it look that way! What makes power poses distinct from low-power (or submissive) poses is the control of space. Hands on the side and a slightly wider stance command space on the stage and demands attention. Of course, overly dramatic, arrogant, or otherwise off-putting stances and posture should be avoided. Use a friend or video to find a power pose that makes you feel confident but doesn’t detract from your overall talk.

How to Practice

Non-verbal engagement is part of our daily lives, so pay attention to your movements when you interact with friends or co-workers. With practice, you will be able to naturally deliver a strong presentation when the time comes. Overall, things to consider are:

• Be conscious of your posture when standing and interacting with friends.
• Look people in the eye! Attempt to make eye contact with those you talk to.
• Pay attention to your small and fidget-like movements, even while by yourself. If these unwanted habits go unnoticed during everyday life, you can expect these habits to creep into your talk without you knowing.

Finally, make an appointment with the Comm Lab if you ever want to practice one-on-one or to discuss your concerns related to your non-verbal presentation style.

Additional Resources

• Common Challenges and Fixes for Verbal and Nonverbal Communication – An extensive reference table created by the BE Communication Lab
• “The Importance of Nonverbal Communication” – A quick read with fun statistics about the importance of nonverbal communication and additional concrete suggestions for improving your skills.
• “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are” – A TED Talk on the effects of power poses and how to incorporate them into your daily life.

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Nonverbal Communication: Presentation Tips in a Virtual Workplace

by Tory Freeman

June 11, 2021, general | personal development.

With COVID-19 making many conferences, meetings, and businesses operate remotely, it is likely in the last 12 months you have had to: 1.) become a Zoom expert, 2.) repaint the wall behind your desk so it looks attractive, and 3.) invest in a high-tech microphone and camera. If all of this wasn’t stressful enough, presenting online gives us other challenges, including the horror of being able to see our own faces while we present, adding more stress to an already stressful situation. Speaking or presenting online gives other difficulties as well, as you have to think about how you show emotion through the camera, create connection remotely, pose with camera angles, and what you do with your hands.

Why Nonverbals are Important

Being able to connect using compelling nonverbal communication is powerful and a necessary part of any presentation, meeting, or sales interaction. Nonverbal communication is the other part of the communication equation, in which verbal and nonverbal communication are the two parts of the whole. Excellent communicators utilize both, and when presenting in virtual settings, it’s not just the words you say, but the manner in which you say them — the nonverbal communication that accompanies them can often speak louder than words. Dr. Kory Floyd, a Professor of Communication at the University of Arizona, defines nonverbal communication as “comprising any behaviors with which we communicate without the use of words.” These would include eye-contact, physical appearance (including clothes, or accessories such as glasses), body movement, gestures, facial expressions, and vocal variety. “Vocal variety” comprises the ways in which you use your voice, such as rate, pitch, pauses, and volume. Utilizing nonverbal communication can make a bland presentation come alive, give flair to a TED Talk, or create connection with your audience during a meeting.

That’s really the power of nonverbal communication — connection. To make us feel connected or close to someone. This phenomenon is often studied in instructional or business settings, and is called nonverbal immediacy . Dr. Floyd says, “Nonverbal immediacy is the use of nonverbal behavior to minimize psychological distance and create emotional closeness between people. It is useful in any setting (virtual or not) in which a sense of closeness is desirable. It can be achieved through eye contact, warm facial expressions and vocal tones, forward leaning, proximity, touch, and other behaviors that help to create or maintain connection between people.”

It is a worthy goal to try to increase nonverbal immediacy when interacting and presenting online, as it will help your audience to feel connected to you.

Sara Blakely, founder & CEO of Spanx, is magical at utilizing nonverbal immediacy. In this interview , she smiles warmly, uses a lot of eye-contact with the host, has a large range of gestures, laughs, and makes the audience absolutely fall in love with her. The good news is that you can make the audience connect with you by utilizing these following four types of nonverbal communication.

1.Facial Expressions

2. eye contact.

“The most important advice is to look at the camera, not at the image,” says Dr. Floyd, who suggests it’s important to vary your gaze whether in person, or remote.

3. Body Movement and Gestures

4. vocal variety, tory freeman, related posts.

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6 Ways To Improve Your Non-Verbal Communication During Presentations

Body language and non-verbal communication are often used interchangeably, but they refer to different things. Body language refers to the movements of your body, while non-verbal communication refers to all of the other signals you send out to others with your tone of voice, facial expressions, and physical behaviors like hand gestures and posture. When it comes to presenting, improving your non-verbal communication can help you connect with your audience, improve their opinion of you, motivate them, and convince them that you are trustworthy and competent. Follow these tips to improve your non-verbal communication during presentations.

1. Dress For Success

Studies have shown that what we wear affects how people perceive us, and it’s true: Wearing professional attire, like a business suit or at least slacks and a blouse, helps you feel more confident. Dress up, but don’t overdo it—you want to look respectful and formal while still being approachable. Remember: You can adjust your outfit as needed depending on your audience. Are they outside? No need for a coat and tie! It’s all about finding a balance between feeling comfortable and looking polished.

2. Get On The Same Page

The most important thing you can do when giving a presentation is establish good communication with your audience. You’re not just talking to a group of people, you’re playing music together (or dancing, if that metaphor works better for you). The more in sync you are, rhythmically and tonally, with your audience, the better they will follow your lead. If there’s something specific about your organization or industry that might be confusing to outsiders, take some time beforehand to explain it so everyone knows what the lingo means.

3. Look Natural, Be Natural

It’s important to establish a connection with your audience—after all, they will be more inclined to trust you and even buy what you’re selling if they feel you’re being authentic. But don’t forget to be genuine in your enthusiasm: smiling will come more naturally if you actually mean it, so work on looking and feeling excited about what you have to say. A major part of establishing rapport is adapting your tone of voice and body language as best as possible for an interactive presentation.

4. Keep Moving

What good is sitting at your desk to give a presentation if you’re fidgeting with your pen or paper? Don’t just stand there when you talk—move around. Make eye contact with as many people in your audience as possible, move around and approach different parts of your stage. The more active you are during your presentation, the more engaged people will be in what you have to say.

5. Watch the Audience

When you’re delivering a presentation, try to keep track of who’s looking at you and who isn’t. Are they interacting with your content? If not, do they look disengaged or confused? Are they interested in what you have to say or would they rather be watching cat videos on YouTube? Adjust your language and tone accordingly.

6. Eye Contact Works

If your gaze is always focused on something other than your audience, they may feel that you are not paying attention to them. Making eye contact with members of your audience shows them that you are engaged in what they have to say. Eye contact also communicates respect; without it, you run the risk of coming across as arrogant or disinterested.

The biggest takeaway from our discussion is that great nonverbal communication and presentation skills go hand in hand. Interactive presentations are remembered more than lectures, more information is retained, and audience members retain their attention for longer. These days, there are so many interactive tools at our disposal to improve our presentations; all it takes is a little research and practice to deliver powerful presentations every time!

Robert Daverschot

Robert is a professional moderator, presenter and speaker coach. Robert has years of experience at home and abroad and works for a broad range of industries. He has interviewed ministers, captains of industry and even His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In his dealings with the audience, he always uses Sendsteps. With it, an audience is able to voice their opinions, whereby attendees can cast votes or send in comments to speakers and panels on stage. As such, events turn into lively dialogues with everyone being able to speak up!

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When Delivering a Presentation, Look at Both Sides of Nonverbal Language

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.

Part of the “how” is nonverbal language.

When you deliver a presentation, people observe two things: Your verbal language – the words you use – and your nonverbal language – what your body language says about you.

In this article, I will present nonverbal language from two different perspectives: Your own nonverbal language that you use while delivering a presentation to others and the nonverbal language that your audience shows to you while you’re presenting. Both forms of communication are beneficial to you as you prepare, deliver and improve upon your presentation style.

First, let’s talk about you, the presenter.

Be Aware of Your Nonverbal Behavior as a Presenter

The most powerful nonverbal cues that you can give to your audience are these:

Walk with confidence. Have good posture. Stand tall. Walk confidently to the presentation area.

Engage in direct eye contact. Look into the eyes of your audience. Don’t look at the walls, floor or ceiling. Definitely do not read your notes to the audience. That will disconnect you from the audience.

Use hand gestures to reinforce your message. This is an important one. When using hand gestures, make sure they look natural. When they are natural, you appear to be authentic, genuine and real. I have seen speakers over-rehearse their hand gestures. It sounds silly, doesn’t it? Yet it happens to be true. Over-rehearsing gestures creates a speaker who is artificial and robotic. Gestures, when they come from the heart, are interpreted as being true and honest. With that said, be careful of a few things: Don’t over-exaggerate. If the fish was just this big, then don’t say it was THIS BIG! Don’t use repeated gestures because they can distract the audience from your message. An example: If you have a tendency to “roll” your right hand when you are talking, then you don’t want to continue rolling and rolling and rolling. Pretty soon, the audience looks at your rolling hand gesture and doesn’t listen to your message.

Move a little. Movement is good for presenters. Too much movement is distracting. If you walk from the front of the room to the back of the room, that’s fine. If you move all around the entire room during your entire presentation, your audience will get tired of adjusting their necks or their chairs. A little movement is fine. Avoid repetitive movement. An example: Pacing. When you begin to pace, it creates a rhythm that has an almost hypnotic effect. Think of your pacing body as a pendulum, “you’re getting sleepy, very sleepy.” Before you know it, your audience will be anticipating your next pivot or turn to return to the other side of the room rather than listening to your message. Robotic pacing is a death knell to any presenter.

Express yourself! With more than 100 muscles in your face alone, you have the amazing capacity to share six primary emotions (fear, joy, love, sadness, surprise and anger) and more than 60 emotional expressions. All of that power comes from less than one square foot of space! What are you doing with it? If you are sharing declining numbers, show it. If you are delighted that you exceeded year-end quotas, show it. If you are sharing a sad story, show it. Your facial expressions reinforce your message. Just make sure that they are not in conflict with your message. If you say, “I’m delighted to be here today to deliver this presentation” and your face shows no emotion, your audience will believe your face. They will say, “She’s not really delighted. She looks angry.”

Enhance your image. Your appearance is the first thing people notice when you enter a room. It speaks volumes about who you are as a person and about your level of professionalism. Take a long, hard look at your professional attire. Are you wearing the same suits that you have been wearing since the 1980s? If so, throw them out! Nobody wants to see someone with larger-than-life padded shoulders (just think of the suits that David Byrne of the rock group The Talking Heads wore in the 1980s). Look at the colors you wear. You want to look current, not dated.

A few years ago, I was asked to coach a man on his professional style. The moment he walked into the room, my first impression was set. After we chatted a while, I shared with him those initial thoughts. You see, he was a “mousy” man and everything about him was “mousy.” He wore glasses, a light beige pullover sweater, a light beige shirt and brown pants. His communication style was on the quiet, shy side. Nothing about him stood out or communicated power. He was essentially invisible. I recommended navy blue as a more professional base color for him. Now when he walks into a room, he looks more businesslike and commands attention. A simple wardrobe adjustment has tremendous impact on how others see you.

Pause and be silent. Effective pausing, or silence, is one of the most powerful nonverbal cues that you can use while presenting. Yet, most Americans are accustomed to filling every second with sound. Within a presentation, there are certain portions that you want to emphasize. Let silence help you. You have the option of either saying “Our year-end sales were up 25%” OR “Our year-end sales (pause) were up (pause) twenty (pause) five (pause) percent .” This is much more powerful.

As you can see, your nonverbal language communicates a great deal to your audience.

The more you present, the more confident and comfortable you will feel.

Now, let’s talk about the nonverbal cues of your audience.

Analyze Your Audience’s Nonverbal Language

There is nothing more unnerving to a presenter than standing in front of a group of people for the first time. It could be 50, 500 or 1,000 people. What’s different is that you are often put outside your comfort zone. So why not treat that presentation to a larger group just like you would a one-on-one conversation?

Here are some nonverbal cues for you to be aware of during your presentation that could help improve your future presentations:

The energy level in the room drops. You have a feeling that your audience isn’t energized by your content. Unfortunately, sometimes a presenter can begin to lose energy or interest in his or her own presentation because of how they are interpreting the audience’s behavior. Now would be a good time to use a different approach. Share a short anecdote. Tell a story. Ask a powerful, thought-provoking question. Give a startling statistic. Anything that shakes up your audience will do. If they were with you all along, they’ll be with you even more. If they weren’t with you, they certainly will be now. The more energy you put out to your audience, the more energy they will return to you. It all begins with you.

One person in the audience is distracting you. What happens when you begin focusing on one person who you think is not interested in what you have to say? You make that judgment as a presenter rather quickly. The person’s nonverbal language is “speaking” to you. Sometimes you are right. And sometimes you are wrong. Don’t get distracted by that one person…who may have been up all night with a colicky baby and is falling asleep because of that rather than your content. Here’s my personal experience:

Several years ago, while delivering a full-day training program, I noticed a woman who – to me – seemed disengaged. She was looking down a lot. She wasn’t smiling or laughing at my humor. I was convinced that she wasn’t enjoying my program. (This is what we call “negative self-talk”). After the program ended, as I reviewed the evaluation sheets, I came across hers. I was fully expecting her to give me a 1 or 2 out of 5 points. Instead, she gave me all 5’s and added the comment, “I would attend any future programs facilitated by Christine.” Whoa. That was not the response I expected. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. When we try to read other people’s nonverbal cues, sometimes we are right and sometimes we are wrong. Remember that the next time you try to read one person in your audience.

You are seeing a bored look on everyone’s faces. If you are using a PowerPoint presentation to accompany your remarks, click on the B button on your computer to go to black screen. That alone will get your audience’s attention. What going to black screen allows you to do is focus on a conversation with your audience. There is no other distraction. PowerPoint images, which are visually interesting to look at (sometimes) can also lull your audience to sleep! Take a break. Have a conversation with your audience about your topic for a few minutes. Then eventually click on the B button again to return to your slide presentation. This simple trick provides a simple visual mental shift. Now, if people truly are bored by your presentation, then it’s time for you to give that presentation a complete overhaul.

The next time you prepare for and deliver a presentation, think carefully about your own nonverbal cues and the nonverbal cues you are picking up from your audience. Being aware of both could mean the difference between delivering an average presentation or a stellar one.

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Nonverbal Communication Skills: 19 Theories & Findings

In it, he introduces the concept of dramaturgy, which compares everyday social interactions to actors’ portrayals of characters, suggesting that one’s social interactions are analogous to a string of varying performances (Ritzer, 2021).

Goffman’s work also included the concept of impression management. The key to impression management includes appearance; your manner of interacting; and the attitudes conveyed through gestures, facial expressions, and nonverbal skills (Ritzer, 2021).

William Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage.”

I’m not a trained actor, but teaching public speaking courses has made me aware that audiences seem to prefer speakers who use a variety of hand gestures. These gestures signify the speaker as “warm, agreeable, and energetic” (Goman, 2021).

Just that nugget of information has taught me to incorporate hand gestures to develop my public speaking skills.

What other nonverbal communication skills enhance daily interactions?

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free . These science-based tools will help you and those you work with build better social skills and better connect with others.

This Article Contains:

What is nonverbal communication, 9 types of nonverbal communication skills, is nonverbal communication important, 2 psychology theories and models, 8 fascinating research findings, importance in counseling and healthcare, resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.

Nonverbal communication is a way to convey information “achieved through facial expressions, gestures, touching (haptics), physical movements (kinesics), posture, body adornment (clothes, jewelry, hairstyle, tattoos, etc.), and even the tone, timbre, and volume of an individual’s voice (rather than spoken content)” (Navarro & Karlins, 2008, p. 2–4).

In this YouTube video, Joe Navarro explains several nonverbal communication cues, exposes some myths, and discusses his work with nonverbal communication in law enforcement.

Marco Iacoboni (2008, p. 81), author of Mirroring People , takes it a step further, stating that “gestures accompanying speech have a dual role of helping the speakers to express their thoughts and helping the listeners/viewers understand what is being said.”

To competently read body language, Navarro and Karlins (2008) provide suggestions such as rigorous observation and a familiarity with the person’s baseline behaviors. They also recommend watching for changes, or ‘tells.’

Navarro and Karlins (2008) advise becoming familiar with universal behaviors and contextualizing nonverbal cues. However, cultural norms could inhibit rigorous observation.

Characteristics of nonverbal communication

The United States is considered a low-context communication culture (MacLachlan, 2010). This means that much of the information in a message comes directly from words rather than through implication or body language.

This style of communication involves lots of verbal detail so as not to confuse listeners. Low-context cultures rely less on nonverbal communication, which can obscure or censor portions of the message.

Nonverbal communication is culturally determined, and it is largely unconscious. It indicates the speaker’s emotional state. When nonverbal cues conflict with the verbal message, it may convey confusion or deception (Navarro & Karlins, 2008).

Finally, nonverbal communication varies by gender and displays power differentials, information effective leaders can use to influence others (Hybels & Weaver, 2015; Henley, 1977).

Nonverbal communication of successful leaders

It’s essential for leaders to read body language, also known as decoding. Deciphering between engagement (e.g., nodding, tilting the head, open body postures) and disengagement (e.g., body tilting away, crossed arms and legs) can be the difference between success and failure (Goman, 2021).

Successful actors could be considered professional first-impression artists. Like actors, leaders often find themselves center stage; they must learn the art of creating first impressions.

Subjective awareness and the ability to express yourself nonverbally are known as encoding – crucial for positive first impressions. Advice from professional actors includes a maintaining a pleasant facial expression, good posture, pausing, breathing, relaxing, and avoiding hiding your hands (Shellenbarger, 2018).

This video , 8 Things Successful People Do to Look Confident , provides quick tips for confident body language even if you’re not feeling confident.

First impressions are said to be formed in less than seven seconds (Goman, 2021). In this short time, others formulate labels such as “powerful,” “submissive,” or “trustworthy.” Evolved leaders incorporate mindfulness to help.

Naz Beheshti (2018) states, “Evolved leaders… use nonverbal tools mindfully and deliberately to reinforce their message.” She goes on to say, “this lifts the value of your communication and your value as a leader” (Beheshti, 2018).

Awareness of self, others, and the situation (mindfulness) allows us to ensure that our gestures and body language align with our spoken words. This creates congruence and generates trustworthiness (Beheshti, 2018; Newberg & Waldman, 2013).

This means we are analyzing several, simultaneous nonverbal cues. A frustrated person may tap their foot, cross their arms, and tightly squeeze their biceps (Jones, 2013). These clusters may cross over and include a variety of nonverbal categories, summarized below.

1. Kinesics

Kinesics is the study of how we move our body, specifically the head, hands, body, and arms (Jones, 2013). This includes sending messages through facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and posture.

Haptics is the study of touch or coming into physical contact with another person (Hybels & Weaver, 2015). Throughout history, touch has been surrounded by mystery and taboo. We are perplexed by healing touch and riveted by stories of infants who perished due to lack of touch. Touch can denote relationship, status, power, and personality (Henley, 1977).

Cultural norms dictate guidelines regarding touch. Mindfulness regarding social and environmental settings is prudent. We greet a friend at an informal party differently than we would greet a boss or coworker in a professional setting.

3. Proxemics

The study of space and distance is called proxemics, and it analyzes how people use the space around them (Hybels & Weaver, 2015).

This YouTube video is a fun demonstration of students completing a school project on personal space and the discomfort felt by both humans and animals when social norms are violated.

4. Territory

Territory is often used to display power or reveal a lack thereof.

“'[P]osture expansiveness,’ positioning oneself in a way that opens up the body and takes up space, activated a sense of power that produced behavioral changes in a subject independent of their actual rank or role in an organization” (Goman, 2021).

Expansiveness conveys power.

5. Environment

Environment includes objects we use to adorn ourselves and the artifacts we surround ourselves with in order to create an impression. These objects provide nonverbal cues that help others form impressions (Jones, 2013).

6. Paralinguistics

Paralinguistics, also known as vocalics, is the study of how we speak and involves pitch, volume, rate of speech, tone, quality, tempo, resonance, rhythm, and articulation to help determine the context of the message (Jones, 2013).

7. Chronemics

Chronemics is the study of time, including how it is used. Nancy Henley (1977, p. 43), author of Body Politics: Power, Sex & Nonverbal Communication , asserts “Time is far from a neutral philosophical/physical concept in our society: it is a political weapon.”

Henley (1977, p. 47) describes the concept of “ritual waiting,” stating, “The more important the person, the longer we will ungrudgingly wait for the service or honor of attention.”

8. Attractiveness

The power of drawing attention to oneself doesn’t rely on physical appeal alone. Although facial symmetry and fashion of adornment are important (Jones, 2013), people who master good eye contact, have a lively face, offer encouragement, and use open gestures are also considered attractive (Kuhnke, 2012).

9. Olfactics

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Nonverbal communication is very important, as you could reveal unintentional information, as well as cause your communication to be misinterpreted.

Leakage: Unintentional messages

Teaching social–emotional skills to incarcerated people provided me with a powerful lesson about the nuances of nonverbal communication. On a particularly challenging day, I thought it wise to meditate and center myself prior to entering the jail. However, upon seeing me, the people inside began inquiring what was going on with me. What did they detect?

Nonverbal leakage can be shown through micro-expressions, which are “very fast facial movements lasting 1/25 to 1/5 of a second” and indicate a person’s real feelings (Ekman, 2003, p. 214).

This YouTube video is the opening scene of the series Lie to Me , based on the work of Paul Ekman regarding micro-expressions.

Varying statistics on the value of nonverbal communication may cause concern for those less practiced, but which statistics are accurate?

Crossed messages

The original research from Mehrabian and Ferris (1967) regarding nonverbal communication is widely interpreted. Elizabeth Kuhnke (2012, p. 10), author of Body Language for Dummies , interprets the study, saying, “55% of the emotional message in face-to-face communication results from body language.”

A nonverbal communication formula often cited is 7–38–55, which indicates 7% of the message comes from words, 38% vocal, and 55% facial. However, Lapakko (2007) believes this formula is reckless, faulty, and misleading. Sometimes the nonverbal elements of a message, such as gestures with directions, are incredibly important, and at other times incidental.

In addition, what something “means” in communication is connected to such variables as culture, history of the relationship, people’s intentions, personal experiences, time of day and specific words used. It would be naive to suggest all these nuances could be neatly quantified, and therefore attributing a precise formula to nonverbal communication is flawed in many ways.

So regardless of statistics and formulas, we know that nonverbal communication is essential and that people skilled at both reading and interpreting body language tend to enjoy greater success in life than those not skilled (Goleman, 1997).

Basic emotion theory

Basic emotion theory (BET) posits that emotions are a “grammar of social living” that situate us in the social and moral order of society (Keltner, Sauter, Tracy, & Cowen, 2019, p. 133). In addition, emotions structure interactions, particularly in relationships that matter. BET is integral to emotional expression.

Foundational to BET is the assumption that emotional expressions coordinate social interactions in three ways:

• Through rapid conveyance of important information to aid in decision making
• To evoke specific responses
• To serve as incentives for others’ actions

This is accomplished through reward systems such as parents smiling and caressing a child who exhibits specific behaviors (Keltner et al., 2019).

BET initially focused on six basic emotions. Literature reveals there are over 20 emotions with distinct, multimodal expressions, providing a deeper structure and highlighting the advancing nature of emotional expression (Keltner et al., 2019).

Neural resonance

Two people who like each other will mirror each other’s facial expressions, gestures, postures, vocalics, and movements. This is known as neural resonance, and it aids the accurate transfer of information from one person to another (Newberg & Waldman, 2013).

To fully understand what another is saying, “you have to listen to and observe the other person as deeply and fully as possible” (Newberg & Waldman, 2013, p. 81). Neural resonance uses mirror neurons to create cooperation, empathy, and trust.

Studying nonverbal communication is revealing and intriguing. Most experts will include aspects such as eyes, facial expressions, and hands, but digging deeper reveals less-acknowledged nonverbal nuggets.

1. The benefits of yawning

Yawning is one of the fastest and simplest ways to lower mental stress and anxiety (Waldman & Manning, 2017). Social norms dictate that we refrain from yawning in specific settings, but yawning has many benefits. Did you know that snipers are taught to yawn before pulling the trigger (Waldman & Manning, 2017)?

According to Waldman and Manning (2017), yawning stimulates alertness and concentration; optimizes brain activity and metabolism; improves cognitive functioning; increases recall, consciousness, and introspection; decreases stress and relaxes the upper body; recalibrates a sense of timing; enhances social awareness and empathy; and increases sensuality and pleasure.

2. Feet don’t lie

According to Navarro and Karlins (2008), the most honest part of our body is our feet, as demonstrated by small children who dance with happiness or stomp in frustration. Many people look to the face for truth; Navarro and Karlins take the opposite approach:

“When it comes to honesty, truthfulness decreases as we move from the feet to the head” (Navarro & Karlins, 2008, p. 56), reasoning that emotions are suppressed through fabricated facial expression.

3. Gestures that help

Gestures improve memory and comprehension skills. Gestures may convey information that can influence how listeners respond, depending on the hand being used. “We tend to express positive ideas with our dominant hand and negative ideas with the other hand” (Newberg & Waldman, 2013, p. 44).

4. The eyes have it

“Social network circuits are stimulated through face-to-face eye contact, decreasing cortisol, and increasing oxytocin. The result is increased empathy, social cooperation, and positive communication” (Newberg & Waldman, 2013, p. 135).

Eyes reveal a lot about us. When we are aroused, troubled, concerned, or nervous, our blink rate increases. Once we relax, our blink rate returns to normal (Navarro & Karlins, 2008).

5. Power posing for success

Body language affects how others see us and how we view ourselves. In this YouTube video, Amy Cuddy discusses her research on power posing and how it affects success.

Amy Cuddy’s book is also discussed in our article listing books on imposter syndrome .

6. Fingers crossed

One explanation of the origin of crossing fingers for good luck comes from early beliefs in the power of the cross. The intersection of the digits, epitomizing the cross, was thought to denote a concentration of good spirits and served to anchor a wish until it came true (Keyser, 2014).

7. Fake positivity is harmful

Positivity that doesn’t register in your body or heart can be harmful. According to Barbara Fredrickson (2009, p. 180), “fake smiles, just like sneers of anger, predict heart wall collapse.” To truly benefit from a smile, touch, or embrace, you need to slow down and make it heartfelt.

8. Stand up straight

Poor posture can reduce oxygen intake by 30%, resulting in less energy (Gordon, 2003). Stooping over can make us look and feel old and out of touch. By straightening up, we can make significant differences in how we think and feel. The effect is bi-directional; attitude influences posture, just as posture influences attitude.

Good rapport between clients and practitioners stems from mirroring and synchronicity associated with neural resonance (Finset & Piccolo, 2011; Newberg & Waldman, 2013).

Carl Rogers’s Client-Centered Therapy is based on an empathetic understanding of clients. Nonverbal communication provides valuable information for both the client and the therapist. Showing you like and accept a client may be the most important information a therapist can convey (Finset & Piccolo, 2011).

Nonverbal patterns in therapy evolve over time. Specific behaviors that further the therapeutic process include “a moderate amount of head nodding and smiling; frequent, but not staring, eye contact; active, but not extreme, facial responsiveness; and a warm, relaxed, interested vocal tone” (Finset & Piccolo, 2011, p. 122).

Conscious awareness of nonverbal cues can aid in rapport building. Leaning toward the other signals comfort, whereas leaning away or crossing your arms signals discomfort (Navarro & Karlins, 2008).

Torsos and shoulder blades seem innocuous; however, blading away (turning slightly) from another person shows discomfort, while blading toward or facing another squarely shows a level of comfort (Navarro & Karlins, 2008).

Open palms are an ancient sign of trustworthiness that help establish rapport and are considered nonthreatening (Kuhnke, 2012). Hidden hands (placed in pockets or behind backs) signal disconnection and reluctance to engage. To display respect, keep an open posture with your muscles relaxed and weight evenly distributed.

Mirroring and matching go a long way to show synchronicity. Be careful to avoid mimicry, which signals disrespect (Kuhnke, 2012). Too much of a good thing can jeopardize credibility. An extended, fixed gaze into another’s eyes or effortful smiling can seem awkward, or worse.

This short YouTube video explains the dynamics of fluctuating facial expressions, based on the work of Charles Darwin and Paul Ekman.

This Silent Connections worksheet is an exercise for groups that combines mindfulness and nonverbal communication to build connections.

Someone who lacks the ability to make eye contact during conversation can be easily misinterpreted. To overcome this nonverbal communication issue, our Strategies for Maintaining Eye Contact can be very useful.

Our blog post 49 Communication Activities, Exercises, and Games includes six nonverbal communication activities for adults and three nonverbal exercises that work for families and children.

The blog post What Is Assertive Communication? 10 Real-Life Examples includes nonverbal qualities that complement and enhance assertive statements. Hints for eye contact, facial expressions, and posture can be found throughout.

In the blog post Cultivating Social Intelligence : 3 Ways to Understand Others , we discuss characteristics of social intelligence, including body language.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others communicate better, this collection contains 17 validated positive communication tools for practitioners. Use them to help others improve their communication skills and form deeper and more positive relationships.

17 Exercises To Develop Positive Communication

17 Positive Communication Exercises [PDF] to develop help others develop communication skills for successful social interactions and positive, fulfilling relationships.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Nonverbal communication is an essential communication skill. Nonverbal expertise aids in delivering clear messages and forming positive impressions. It doesn’t have to be a big gesture to make a difference. Gently stroking the hand of a grieving friend speaks volumes.

Viewing life as a series of dramatic performances, as implied by both Shakespeare and Goffman, can add a sense of intrigue and adventure to enhancing nonverbal communication. These essential skills will help us achieve goals.

Just as the highly motivated thespian will study and polish their craft, anyone wanting to succeed in their career or interpersonal relationships can study and practice the nuances of nonverbal communication.

Actors and public speakers often practice their craft in front of a mirror or videotape themselves to reflect on strengths and weaknesses.

This article includes a myriad of resources to help improve nonverbal communication skills with many additional resources available.

By starting with something as simple as posture, we exit stage right, headed toward the competency of center stage. Break a leg!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Communication Exercises (PDF) for free .

• Beheshti, N. (2018, September 20). The power of mindful nonverbal communication. Forbes . Retrieved April 26, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nazbeheshti/2018/09/20/beyond-language-the-power-of-mindful-nonverbal-communication/?sh=6f40b3d71501
• Ekman, P. (2003). Emotions revealed: Recognizing faces and feelings to improve communication and emotional life . Holt Paperbacks.
• Finset, A., & Piccolo, L. D. (2011). Nonverbal communication in clinical contexts. In M. Rimondini (Ed.), Communication in cognitive-behavioral therapy (pp. 107–128).  Springer Science + Business Media.
• Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity . Crown Publishing Group.
• Goffman, E. (1956). The presentation of self in everyday life . University of Edinburgh.
• Goleman, D. (1997). Emotional intelligence . Bantam Trade Paperback.
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Delivering your speech: the power of nonverbal communication

When I say “public speaking” what comes to mind? Dread? Nervousness? Excitement? “Public speaking” often brings uneasy feelings to first year students, as standing in front of a classroom ranging from first year to fourth years may seem a lot more intimidating than one full of your long-time high school classmates. You have a well-written and researched speech and you have already sought out a peer review from the Writing and Communication Centre, but the easy part is over. Delivering your speech involves more than a professional tone and a confident voice; you will convey the real impact of your message through nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is the communication we engage in that isn’t written or spoken language, but still creates meaning.

Eye contact, one of the most important nonverbal cues, keeps your audience engaged, makes you believable, and opens up communication. Looking at individual members of the audience establishes an interpersonal connection with them. While maintaining eye contact is important, gestures are useful when emphasizing certain points. Gestures are an excellent way to channel your nerves into movement, as long as you ensure they are not repetitive or taking away from your message.  Using immediacy behaviours, that is, literally or psychologically making your audience members feel closer to you, can establish more relationships as a speaker. Moving closer to your audience or smiling are simple ways to create a closer relationship between you and your listeners.

The audience sees your face before they are going to hear your voice and thus, you have the opportunity to set an emotional tone before you even start speaking. As a speaker, you can decide how your facial expression can alter the atmosphere of your speech in a meaningful way. In many instances, audience members will mimic your emotions, so if you want your audience to feel a certain emotion, its best to express that emotion yourself. Although your face and voice play a major role in communicating a specific emotion, your posture will communicate the intensity of that emotion.

You might be overwhelmed at the long list of unconscious habits to consider when delivering a speech. Delivering a hard hitting, persuasive or informative speech is not easy, but it is an important and useful skill for your post-secondary education and beyond. If you need ideas, feedback, or strategies in creating and delivering a speech, the Writing and Communication Centre is a hub for practice, development and collaboration that can work with you to help develop your individual voice in your academic work. With practice, knowledge and a bit of help, public speaking does not have to be a daunting task, but an opportunity to share your ideas and leave a memorable impression as a speaker.

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Aesthetics and Delivery

Learning Objectives

Have you played charades? Many of you have likely “acted out” a person, place, or a thing for an audience, using only your body and no words. Charades, like many games, demonstrates the heightened or exaggerated use of nonverbals – through acting out, the game highlights how powerful nonverbal communication can be for communicating with an audience.

When speaking, similar to charades, your job is to create a captivating experience for your audience that leads them to new information or to consider a new argument. Nonverbals provide an important facet of that experience by accentuating your content and contributing to the aesthetic experience.

The nonverbal part of your speech is a presentation of yourself as well as your message. Like we discussed in Chapter 7, public speaking is embodied, and your nonverbals are a key part of living and communicating in and through your body. Through the use of eye contact, vocals, body posture, gestures, and facial expression, you enhance your message and invite your audience to give their serious attention to it—and to you. Your credibility, your sincerity, and your knowledge of your speech become apparent through your nonverbal behaviors.

In this chapter, we explore various nonverbal components that influence your message to create an aesthetic experience for your audience. Rather than a check-list of skillsets, we invite you to read these as a series of inter-related behaviors and practices, beginning with eye contact.

Eye Contact

Imagine bringing in 2 qualified applicants for a job opening that you were responsible to fill. The interview is intimate, and each applicant sits directly across from you and 3 other colleagues who are assisting.

While answering questions, applicant 1 never breaks eye contact with you. It’s likely that, as the interview progresses, you begin to feel uncomfortable, even threatened, and begin shifting your own eyes around the room awkwardly. When the applicant leaves, you finally take a deep breath but realize that you can’t remember anything the applicant said.

The second applicant enters and, unlike the first, looks down at their notes, and they never make direct eye contact. As you try to focus on their answers, they seem so uncomfortable that you aren’t able to concentrate on the exchange.

Both approaches are common mistakes when integrating eye contact into a speech. We have likely all seen speakers who read their presentation from notes and never look up. It’s also common for a speaker to zoom in on one audience member (like the teacher!) and never break their gaze.

Eye contact creates an intimate and interpersonal experience for individual audience members and it assists in maintaining rapport. Part of creating a meaningful aesthetic experience is through eye contact, and the general rule of thumb is that 80% of your total speech time should be spent making eye contact with your audience (Lucas, 2015, p. 250). When you’re able to connect by using eye contact, you create a more intimate, trusting, and transparent experience.

It’s important to note that you want to establish genuine eye contact with your audience, and not “fake” eye contact. There have been a lot of techniques generated for “faking” eye contact, and none of them look natural. For example, these aren’t great:

• Three points on the back wall – You may have heard that instead of making eye contact, you can just pick three points on the back wall and look at each point. What ends up happening, though, is you look like you are staring off into space and your audience will spend the majority of your speech trying to figure out what you are looking at. This technique may work better for a larger audience, but in a more intimate space (like the classroom), the audience is close enough to be suspicious. Put simply: we can tell you aren’t looking at us.
• The swimming method – This happens when someone is reading their speech and looks up quickly and briefly, not unlike a swimmer who pops their head out of the water for a breath before going back under. Eye contact is more than just physically moving your head; it is about looking at your audience and establishing a connection.

Instead, work to maintain approximately 3 seconds of eye contact with audience members throughout the room. You are, after all, speaking to them, so use your eyes to make contact. This may also reduce some anxiety because you can envision yourself speaking directly to one person at a time, rather than a room full of strangers.

Remember: you have done the work. You are prepared. You have something to say. People want to listen.

When you (and your body) move, you communicate. You may, for example, have a friend who, when telling exciting stories, frantically gestures and paces the room—their movement is part of how they communicate their story. They likely do this unconsciously, and that’s often how much of our informal movement occurs.

Many of us, like your friend, have certain elements of movement that we comfortably integrate into our daily interactions. It’s important to know your go-to movements to ask: how can I utilize these (or put them in check) to enhance the audience’s experience? In this section, we will introduce how and why movement should be purposefully integrated into your public speech. We’ll focus on your hands, your feet, and how to move around the space.

Gestures and Hands

Everyone who gives a speech in public gets scared or nervous. Even professionals who do this for a living feel that way, but they have learned how to combat those nerves through experience and practice. When we get scared or nervous, our bodies emit adrenaline into our systems so we can deal with whatever problem is causing us to feel that way. In a speech, you are asked to speak for a specific duration of time, so that burst of adrenaline is going to try to work its way out of your body and manifest itself somehow. One of the main ways is through your hands.

3 common reactions to this adrenaline rush are:

• Jazz hands! It may sound funny, but nervous speakers can unknowingly incorporate “jazz hands”—shaking your hands at your sides with fingers opened wide— at various points in their speech. While certainly an extreme example, this and behaviors like it can easily becoming distracting.
• Stiff as a board . At the other end of the scale, people who don’t know what to do with their hands or use them “too little” sometimes hold their arms stiffly at their sides, behind their backs, or in their pockets, all of which can also look unnatural and distracting.
• Hold on for dear life! Finally, some speakers might grip their notes or a podium tightly with their hands. This might also result in tapping on a podium, table, or another object nearby.

It’s important to remember that just because you aren’t sure what your hands are doing does not mean they aren’t doing something . Fidgeting, jazz hands, gripping the podium, or hands in pockets are all common and result in speakers asking, “did I really do that? I don’t even remember!”

Like we mentioned in this section’s introduction, the key for knowing what to do with your hands is to know your own embodied movement and to trust or adjust your natural style as needed.

Are you someone who uses gestures when speaking? If so, great! Use your natural gestures to create purposeful aesthetic emphasis for your audience. If you were standing around talking to your friends and wanted to list three reasons why you should all take a road trip this weekend, you would probably hold up your fingers as you counted off the reasons (“First, we hardly ever get this opportunity. Second, we can…”). Try to pay attention to what you do with your hands in regular conversations and incorporate that into your delivery. Be conscious, though, of being over the top and gesturing at every other word. Remember that gestures highlight and punctuate information for the audience, so too many gestures (like jazz hands) can be distracting.

Similarly, are you someone who generally rests your arms at your sides? That’s OK, too! Work to keep a natural (and not stiff) look, but challenge yourself to integrate a few additional gestures throughout the speech.

Feet and Posture

Just like your hands, nervous energy might try to work its way out of your body through your feet. Common difficulties include:

• The side-to-side. You may feel awkward standing without a podium and try to shift your weight back and forth. On the “too much” end, this is most common when people start “dancing” or stepping side to side.
• The twisty-leg. Another variation is twisting feet around each other or the lower leg.
• Stiff-as-a-board. On the other end are speakers who put their feet together, lock their knees, and never move from that position. Locked knees can restrict oxygen to your brain, so there are many reasons to avoid this difficulty.

These options look unnatural, and therefore will prove to be distracting to your audience.

The default position for your feet, then, is to have them shoulder-width apart, with your knees slightly bent. Since public speaking often results in some degree of physical exertion, you need to treat speaking as a physical activity. Public speaking is too often viewed as merely the transmission of information or a message rather than a fully body experience. Being in-tune and attuned to your body will allow you to speak in a way that’s both comfortable for you and the audience.

In addition to keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, you’ll also want to focus on your posture. As an audience member, you may have witnessed speakers with slumped shoulders or leaning into the podium (if there is one) with their entire body.

Difficulty with good posture is not just a public speaking problem. Think about how often you sit down in a coffee shop, pull out your laptop and, after some time, you realize that you are leaning over and your lower back is wincing in pain. You likely pull your shoulders back and straighten your spine in response. If you don’t focus on this posture (and practice reminding yourself to “sit up straight”), your body may slump back into old habits. So, you guessed it: focusing on good posture is just that – something that you must focus on, over time, so that it becomes habitual.

Focusing on good posture and solid grounding will, in addition to increasing your confidence, assist you in maintaining your eye contact and focusing on projecting your voice throughout the space.

Moving in the Space

We know that likely you’re wondering, “Should I do any other movement around the room?”

Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer. Movement depends on two overarching considerations: 1) What’s the space? And, 2) What’s the message?

First, movement is always informed by the space in which you’ll speak. We’ll cover this more in tips on rehearsal (see Chapter 11), but we’ll highlight a few important details here. Consider the two following examples:

• You’ll be a giving a presentation at a university where a podium is set up with a stable microphone.
• You’re speaking at a local TedTalk event with an open stage.

Both scenarios provide constraints and opportunities for movement.

In the university space, the microphone may constrain your movement if you determine that vocal projection is insufficient to guarantee a level of speaking that can be heard throughout the space.

In other words, you need to stay planted behind the microphone to guarantee sound. Partially constraining, this does allow a stable location to place your notes, a microphone to assist in projecting, and allows you to focus on other verbal and nonverbal techniques.

In the TedTalk example, you are not constrained by a stable microphone and you have a stage for bodily movement. The open stage means that the entire space becomes part of the aesthetic experience for the audience. However, if you are less comfortable with movement, the open space may feel intimidating because audiences may assume that you’ll use the entire space.

In addition to the space, your message and content assist in deciding how or why you might move around the space. It’s necessary to ask, “how does movement support, enhance or detract from the message?” and “how might movement support, enhance, or detract from the aesthetic experience for the audience?”

Remember that most public speeches are ephemeral, where the audience is attempting to comprehend your message in one shot or run through. Given these circumstances, it can be tricky for an audience to track the argument progression, especially since you may be dealing with an audience of varying levels of experience with your topic. Similar to the space, thinking through where your movement can assist in translating your information is paramount.

Once you have knowledge of the speaking space and completed speech content, you can start using movement to add dimension to the aesthetic experience for your audience.

One benefit of movement is that it allows you to engage with different sections of the audience. If you are not constrained to one spot (in the case of a podium or a seat, for example), then you are able to use movement to engage with the audience by adjusting your spatial dynamic. You can literally move your body to different sides of the stage and audience. This allows for each side of a room to be pulled in to the content because you close the physical distance and create clear pathways for eye contact.

Without these changes, sections of the audience may feel lost or forgotten. Consider your role as a student. Have you experienced a professor or teacher who stays solitary and does not move to different sides of the room? It can be difficult to stay motivated to listen or take notes if a speaker is dominating one area of the space.

Changing the spatial dynamics goes beyond moving from side-to-side. You can also move forward and backward (or what theater practitioners might call down or up stage). This allows you to move closer to the audience or back away—depending on what experience you’re trying to create.

In addition to engaging with the audience, movement often signals a transition between ideas or an attempt to visually enunciate an important component of your information. You may want to signal a change in time or mark progression. If you’re walking your audience through information chronologically, movement can mark that temporal progression where your body becomes the visual marker of time passing.

You may also want to signal a transition between main ideas, and movement can assist with that, too! Moving as main point transitions embodies the connections between your ideas while letting the audience know that “we are going to progress in the argument.” If integrating movement as a transition feels odd, choppy, or awkward, those feelings help signal that the organization of your main points may need some re-working.

Thus, using purposeful movement can enhanced your aesthetics, but purposeful is the key word here. While movement can enhance, it can also distract and constrain. Keep these common pitfalls in mind:

• The pace-master. We all know this distracting pitfall where (likely due to nervousness), a speaker paces back and forth without any clear reason for the movement. “What in the world are they doing?” you might wonder as an audience member. Unfortunately, if you’re internally asking that question, you’re likely not focusing on the speaker’s content. While it’s OK to “walk and talk” so to speak, avoid constant walking-and-talking. As a speaker, maintain a solid footing when you aren’t moving.
• Obstructing the view: It’s likely that, at some point, you’ll use objects or other presentation enhancements like a PowerPoint or a video during your speech. Make sure you aren’t moving directly in front of the audience’s line of sight. Even if you aren’t referencing something, it can be awkward to walk in front of a projection light.
• The robot : As a dance, the robot can be great, but in public speaking, it’s usually not as effective. We commonly experience students who use “the triangle” method, where each main point in the speech is mapped onto an invisible triangle. This can be done well, but it can also lead to movement looking unnatural. Work to strike a balance between pre-planned and robotic.

When you speak, moving in the space can be beneficial. As you plan your purposeful movement, be aware of the message you’re providing and the space in which you’re speaking.

Facial Expressions

Picture being out to dinner with a friend and, as you finish telling a story about a joke you played on your partner, you look up to a grimacing face.

“What?” you ask. But their face says it all.

“Oh, nothing,” they reply. Realizing that their face has “spilled the beans” so to speak, they might correct their expression by shrugging and biting their lip – a move that may insinuate nervousness or anxiety. You perceive that they didn’t find your story as humorous as you’d hoped.

Facial expressions communicate to others (and audiences) in ways that are congruent or incongruent with your message. In the example above, your friend’s feedback of “oh, nothing” was inconcruent with their facial exressions. Their verbal words didn’t trump their facial expressions, however, and their nonverbal feedback was part of the communication.

Facial expressions are generally categorized as one of the following: happy, sad, angry, fearful, surprised and disgusted. Your facial expressions matter; your audience will be looking at your face to guide them through the speech, so they’re an integral part of communicating meaning and demonstrating to your audience a felt sense.

In fact, if your facial expressions seem incongruent or contradictory from the tone of the argument, an audience may go so far as to feel distrust toward you as a speaker. Children might, for example, say, “I’m fine” or “It doesn’t hurt” after falling and scraping their knee, but their face often communicates a level of discomfort. In this case, their facial expression is incongruent with their verbal message. If you’re frowning while presenting information that the audience perceives to be positive, they may feel uneasy or unsure how to process that information. So, congruency can increase your ethos.

Instead, work to create congruence between your message and expressions. In class discussions on pathos, we often joke about the ASPCA commercials with the Sarah McLachlan song “In the Arms of an Angel” playing in the background. The music is meant to, of course, communicate feelings of sadness around animal cruelty, and rightfully so. In a speech, similar to using music, your facial expressions can assist in setting the aesthetic tone; they are part of developing pathos.

Given the amount of information that we all encounter daily, including information about global injustices, it’s often insufficient to merely state the problem and how to solve it. Audience members need buy in from you as the speaker. Using facial expressions to communicate emotions, for example, can demonstrate your commitment and overall feelings around an issue.

To be clear: facial expressions, like other forms of nonverbal communication, can greatly impact an audience member’s perception of the speaker, but not all audiences may interpret your expressions the same. Re-visit Chapter 2 on audiences.

What you wear, similar to other aesthetic components, can either enhance or detract from the audience’s experience. Like facial expressions, you want your attire to be congruent with the message that you’re delivering. In Chapter 7, we noted that aesthetics are often dicated by certain contextual norms. Context is relevant here, too, as the purpose and audience will inform appropriate attire.

We recommend considering two questions when selecting your attire:

First, “what attire matches the occasion?” Is this a casual occasion? Does it warrant a more professional or business-casual approach? If you’re speaking at an organization’s rally, for example, you may decide to wear attire with the organization’s logo and jeans. Other occasions, like a classroom or city council meeting, may require a higher level of professional attire.

Second, “have I selected any attire that could be distracting while I’m speaking?” Certain kinds of jewelry, for example, might make additional noise or move around your arm, and audiences can focus too much on the jewelry. In addition to noise-makers, some attire can have prints that might distract, including letters, wording, or pictures.

Your attire can influence how the audience perceives you as a speaker (ahem: your credibility) which, as we’ve discussed, is key to influencing listeners. Before we conclude this chapter, we return to credibility and reflexivity.

Aesthetics and Credibility

So far in Part 3 on aesthetics, we’ve discussed how to deliver an aesthetic experience for your audience. As a speaker, it’s important to remember that the audience remains a central component of public speaking and is central to consider when making aesthetic choices.

Yes, this means that you should think about your audience (as Chapter 2 discussed at length) when you are a speaker. These aesthetic choices will influence your audience and assist them in determining if you are credible and, frankly, if they want to listen to your message.

For example, an audience may view vocalized pauses as evidence that a speaker lacks confidence around their topic or does not know the material as well. Similarly, you may consider your attire before presenting, assuming that your audience will respect and view you professionally if you select business casual clothing.

Aesthetic choices are also important when you are in the audience, and it is imperative to be critical and reflect (or practice reflexivity) on how you are filtering a speaker’s information through their aesthetics. The filter that informs our willingness to view a speaker as credible is often based on a mythical norm , or what Audre Lorde (1984) defines generally as young, white, thin, middle-class men. This classification certainly does not fit all speakers, and if you are part of this classification, that’s OK! The mythical norm warns us to be conscious of holding these categories as “the best” or preferred, especially around what counts as credibility. In other words, are these categories unconsciously facilitating a more positive aesthetic experience?

For example, you may decide to wear business casual clothing to increase the likelihood that your audience views you as credible, but as an audience member, be careful assuming that someone is not credible because of their attire. Business attire can be a privilege that everyone cannot afford.

Eye contact can also be investigated. We’ve alluded that eye contact increases trust amongst your audience, and it often does; however, the connection between eye contact and higher levels of credibility is specific to a U.S. American cultural context. Culture thus defines how we interpret and understand certain aesthetic choices, including eye contact. Remember that culture is always a core component of communication. As an audience member, be careful of presumptively judging a speaker based on your own cultural expectations, identities, or positions.

Your nonverbal delivery assists in setting an aesthetic tone for the audience by providing embodied insight into how the audience should think, act, or feel. The space – or literal context in which you’ll speak – also contributes nonverbally to the message. We’ll discuss space in more detail during Chapter 11 on rehearsal.

Up next: presentation aids.

Media Attributions

• Al Gore gestures 1992 © Kenneth C. Zirkel is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license

Speak Out, Call In: Public Speaking as Advocacy Copyright © 2019 by Meggie Mapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Oral Presentations

Effective delivery: vocal & non-verbal.

Effective delivery has two aspects:  vocal delivery and non-verbal communication.

Vocal Delivery

You may have a well-developed presentation, one that you’re excited about, one that distills your main ideas into memorable slides, one that meets your audience’s needs while presenting your informed viewpoint, one that will advance knowledge or process within or outside of your organization.  Yet if you do not deliver that presentation well, it will not have the effects you intend.  As legendary advertising creative director William Bernbach noted, “It’s not just what you say that stirs people. It’s the way that you say it.”

Vocal presentation matters in any type of presentation: in-person, online, real-time, asynchronous.  Vocal variety affects how you are heard. Here are a few tips for effective verbal presentation from presentation skills training consultant Gavin Meikle, who identifies key elements, common errors, and good practices to develop greater vocal impact [1] .

• Volume – Develop your range and vary your volume. To help put this in perspective, consider the saying, “A good speech needs light and shade.”
• Pitch – Research suggests a general preference for lower vocal pitch, with participants ascribing more positive personality traits to lower pitched voices. That’s not to say that you should artificially lower your voice, but simply try to be conscious if your voice tends to rise when you speak, and try to modulate it.
• Resonance – Resonance refers to the fullness of the sound.  For example, when you’re nervous, your voice may tend to become “tighter.” Try deep breathing to re-establish vocal resonance before a presentation.
• Pace – Be aware of and manage your speaking speed. It’s been found that people who moderate their pace when speaking to groups are thought to have greater credibility, and authority.
• Pause – Consider well-placed pauses to emphasize information, and/or to give your audience a brief chance to absorb key information.
• Ending a spoken sentence with a rising tone indicates a question or suggestion.
• Ending a spoken sentence with a descending tone is generally interpreted as an order.
• A flat intonation is used to indicate a statement.

View the following video, which expands on these vocal presentation tips.

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal differs from verbal communication in a few ways.

• Verbal communication uses one channel (words); non-verbal communication uses multiple channels (gestures, pauses/silence, environment, posture/stance, appearance).
• Verbal communication is usually linear (sentences, discussions, and articles start, develop, and end); non-verbal communication is continuous (in constant motion and relative to context).
• Verbal communication is conscious (you consider and choose your words); non-verbal communication can be both conscious and unconscious (you usually don’t make a conscious decision to smile or laugh, but you may make a conscious decision to dress a certain way).

Non-verbal communication – the information and cues you emit through your gestures, appearance, stance, and more – is just as important to consider as verbal communication when you present to an audience. When we first see each other, before anyone says a word, we are already sizing each other up. Within the first few seconds we have made judgments about each other based on what we wear, our physical characteristics, even our posture. Are these judgments accurate? That is hard to know without context, but we can say that nonverbal communication certainly affects first impressions, for better or worse. When a presenter and audience first meet, nonverbal communication in terms of space, dress, and even personal characteristics can contribute to assumed expectations. The expectations might not be accurate or even fair, but it is important to recognize that they will be present. There is truth in the saying, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Since beginnings are fragile times, your attention to aspects you can control, both verbal and nonverbal, will help contribute to the first step of forming a relationship with your audience. Your eye contact with audience members, use of space, and degree of formality will continue to contribute to that relationship.

Non-verbal communication also factors into online, real-time and asynchronous presentations with pauses, silence, and/or background noise; the image you project with your identifying photograph; and your gestures, posture, appearance, and environment visible via the video option in conferencing tools.

The following videos illustrate important aspects of non-verbal communication for presentations.

One Big Presentation Tip

Practice.  It really does help you become aware of how you come across to others in terms of look and language.

The following video discusses the importance of practicing and reviews oral presentation concepts, within the context of doing a presentation for a job interview (although the tips work for any oral presentation context).

[1] Meikle, Gavin. “ Six Elements of Vocal Variety and How to Master Them. ”  Inter-Activ . 18 Jun 2017. Web. 25 Jun 2018.

• some original content and content adapted from Business Communication Skills for Managers, Introduction to Communication, and Business Communication for Success; attributions below. Authored by : Susan Oaks. Project : Communications for Professionals. License : CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial
• Delivery Techniques. Authored by : Nina Burokas. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-businesscommunicationmgrs/chapter/delivery-techniques/ . Project : Business Communication Skills for Managers. License : CC BY: Attribution
• video Vocal Delivery. Provided by : COMMpadres Media. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ha-KUArLWc . License : Other . License Terms : YouTube video
• Differences Between Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication. Authored by : Scott T. Paynton and Linda K. Hahn. Provided by : Humboldt State Universtiy. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introductiontocommunication/chapter/differences-between-verbal-and-nonverbal-communication/ . Project : Introduction to Communication. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• 11.1 Principles of Nonverbal Communication. Located at : https://open.lib.umn.edu/businesscommunication/chapter/11-1-principles-of-nonverbal-communication/ . Project : Business Communication for Success. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• video Body Language for Presentations. Authored by : Alex Lyon. Provided by : Communication Coach. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmbQFWBvTtY . License : Other . License Terms : YouTube video
• video Gestures - The Business Presentation Revolution . Authored by : Michael Rickwood and Rose Bloomfield. Provided by : Ideas on Stage. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P9C8xl4RPU . License : Other . License Terms : YouTube video
• image man holding microphone and speaking in a business environment. Authored by : PhotoMIX-Company. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : https://pixabay.com/photos/the-conference-lecture-lecture-hall-3248255/ . License : CC0: No Rights Reserved
• video How to Make an Interview Presentation. Provided by : Monster UK & Ireland. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCr7ZXNKz6A . License : Other . License Terms : YouTube video

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8 Nonverbal Tips for Public Speaking

• Last modified 2024-03-29
• Published on 2021-05-14

Nonverbal tips help students significantly in communication because nonverbal communication and verbal communication are the two core components of public speaking. While verbal communication can be improved with extensive practice, nonverbal communication directly impacts the audience’s ability to comprehend the message. Every gesture, from the movement of your hands to eye contact, will send different signals to the audience about your capabilities and understanding of the subject. Imagine, if you see a public speaker who delivers their point coherently and comprehensively, what will you think if they keep looking down or sideways, and put their hands behind their back? 

Albert Mehrabian once wrote about the importance of verbal and non-verbal messages. He found out about the 7-38-55 rule : our words convey 7% of the meaning, our tone 38%, and our body language provides 55% of what the audience will remember.  

Nonverbal language is hard to control, especially when you are too focused on presenting. Therefore, to help you be aware of your nonverbal cues and improve your body language and eye contact for future group presentations, here are eight nonverbal tips for you. We will discuss nonverbal communication in two forms: body language and tone.  

Body language

1. the power pose by amy cuddy.

Amy Cuddy, the US social psychologist, suggests the “powerful pose” – spreading your arms wide and looking confident – to help people feel more powerful. According to her research with Harvard University, “ those who sat on the high-power pose, felt more powerful and had performed better in mock interviews than those who had not .” Our body influences our mind; therefore, by making the power pose, we feel more powerful and become more confident.  

2. Maintain consistent breathing

The second nonverbal tip is focused on breathing. Breathing is essential in the public speaking setting. Breathing is often an undervalued and underrated method in public speaking, even though proper breathing will help you with your vocal control, pitch, and tone. For many people who have a fear of public speaking, research indicates breathing is correlated with speech anxiety. Speech anxiety causes shallower breathing: the less air we inhale, the shorter we can talk, and the less effective the presentation will be.  

Before starting to speak, remember to take a deep breath by inhaling and exhaling for a quick second. This nonverbal tip allows the audience to have a short mental break before listening to your following sentence. There are multiple breathing exercises on the internet, such as from Harvard Business Review , to help you control your breathing while speaking as well.  

3. Use proper hand gesture to enhance your message and improve confidence

Pay attention to where your hands are and what you are doing with them . Besides PowerPoint, Prezi, Keynote, and other presentation tools, your hands are a great way to communicate and illustrate your point of view to the audience. Using hand gestures communicates with the audience and helps them memorize better.  

4. Movement - Moving your body around the stage

5. make eye contact with everyone in the audience, 6. control your voice with proper breathing, 7. consistency in public speaking.

8. Having a variety of vocal

According to  research , TED speakers delivering the most popular talks had 30.5% higher vocal variety. Having vocal variety will help you speak in an expressive and energized way, while helping the audience maintain interest for the whole speech. Memorizing a script and speaking like a script will turn the audience off and make them lose interest, because monotone = boring. We suggest you remember the main points of your speech, then allow for some spontaneity and flexibility in your actual presentation. In addition, depending on the environment of the stage or the amount of audience, have a higher vocal variety because the audience may have a hard time hearing you. 

Practice public speaking with Aralia College Accelerator Program

Aralia College Accelerator Program offers a diverse range of public speaking classes designed to nurture profound interests and improve their public speaking skills. Our classes cover various aspects of effective communication, including persuasive techniques, audience engagement strategies, and speech delivery mastery. 

The accent reduction course focuses on understanding and strengthening the unique sounds and structures that make up the “neutral” dialect. While there are many dialects throughout America, it is the neutral accent commonly practiced by public speakers and officials. Radio DJs, TV news anchors, and even most Hollywood movie actors use the neutral accent to convey their message to the largest group of Americans possible. By eliminating accents in communication, we can more easily connect to our audience and erase any misunderstandings or unconscious bias from a foreign dialect, whether domestic or international.

In this English Speaking course, each class will focus on different topics: sports, volunteer experience, current affairs, politics, culture, education, literature, technology, and the environment. These various themes are based on real situations that students will encounter when they come to the United States. Learning to discuss these topics will be very useful when interacting with native English speakers. Students will build a solid foundation in oral expression and learn how to express themselves confidently and clearly in English.

This Public Speaking and Debate class will offer the opportunity to speak and listen to others talk only as much as possible. We will alternate between learning the structure of different types of speeches and making presentations by one student to the rest of the class. After each speech by students, we will have a critique from the peers, and the teacher. They will also be required and coached on how to participate in the discussion and to critique their peers.

• Academic Tips , Public Speaking

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Aralia Education is an innovative online education platform for ambitious middle and high school students worldwide. Aralia’s instructors propel students forward by helping them build a strong foundation in traditional academic courses. They also actively engage and guide students in exploring personal interests beyond their school curriculum. With this holistic approach, Aralia ensures its students are well-prepared for college and equipped for success in their future careers.

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Non Verbal Communication in Presentations

Today is Thursday, so this post is on communication skills.

Presentation skills, conversation skills and writing skills are the three keys to effective communication.  In this post, I’d like to focus on some tips for using non verbal communication to improve your presentation skills.

Eye contact helps indicates your interest in the people in the audience.  It increases your credibility.  When you make eye contact with people in the audience, you increase your chances of getting your message across.  Eye contact helps you establish a connection with the audience.  When you make eye contact with people as you are speaking, you build one to one bonds with them.

Smiles are powerful .  I always try to keep a smile on my face when I am speaking.  Smiling makes a speaker more warm, likable and friendly.  When you smile, people see you as happy – and this makes them more receptive to you.  People react positively to smiles.  When you smile, the audience smiles.  And a smiling audience is a receptive audience.  Smiling will help you get your points across and accepted.

Gestures are another important form of non verbal communication.  But you have to be careful with gestures.  I practice my talks in front of a mirror.  As I’m speaking, I watch my natural gestures.  Then I enhance them.  Usually, I amplify my gestures, because big rooms demand big gestures.  However, sometimes, I tone them down – depending on the audience.  Regardless, I focus on making my gestures natural and reflective of what I’m saying.  I try to avoid choppy, sudden gestures when I’m speaking.  Instead, I focus on making my gestures fluid.

Posture and body orientation : I always stand up straight and look directly at the audience.  Standing straight and looking directly at the audience indicates confidence.  I use posture to make points though.  If I am speaking about confidence, and want to give an example of an unconfident person, I slump my shoulders and look at the floor.   Spend most of your time oriented toward the audience.  If you’re using slides, speak to the audience, not the slide.  It’s OK to look at a slide – especially if you want to draw the audience’s attention to it, but always turn back to the audience after a few seconds.

Proximity : Unlike many speakers, I like to get away from the platform and walk the room.  This means that I get up close and personal with people in the audience.  I have a wireless device to advance slides, so I am not tied to my computer.  I find that audiences like it.  As I walk the room, people feel that I’m more a part of them, having a conversation with them, rather than talking at them.  This doesn’t work with very large audiences – which I define as over 100 people.  However, even if you are speaking to a large audience and need to remain on the platform, I suggest using a wireless device to advance your slides.  You won’t be tied to your computer, and you’ll appear more natural.

Your voice : Be animated – avoid speaking in a monotone.  Show excitement for your material with your voice.   I always practice my talks out loud – that way I hear my voice and the words I am using.  This helps me modify my delivery in ways that will improve my impact with my audience.

If you use these non verbal communication ideas you’ll become someone whose presentations carry an impact – and you’ll be on your way to career and life success.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com to subscribe to my monthly ezine and for more common sense.  Check out my other blog: www.CommonSenseGuy.com for common sense advice on leading people and running a small business.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.

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