Body language of communicators

Simple and free flowing actions

Speech content and accent have an enormous impact upon the success of a communicator. But a good communicator usually speaks his mind. And so, the mind requires thoughts. It shows in our body language if we are disturbed, not speaking what we are thinking and mostly, whether not confident about our content.

This is why Alzheimer’s causes a peculiar body language or a person who is absent minded, may not communicate that well which shows in their movements.

Being a teacher to medical students for the past few years, I have been delivering lectures both prepared and unprepared, so let me tell you that one can improve their body language over the years with practice. I move my body a lot while communicating because words must flow freely, and the thoughts running in my mind to explain many things, make me move my body which needs to slow down and needs improvement.

When in school we were taught not to move our arms, hands and fingers. Speech should be good without shaking yourself. But over the years I discovered, emotional communication requires us to impactfully emphasize in between and hence move hands though not unnecessarily. We need to walk a bit and turn to the laptop if communicating while standing in a business meeting. And if you are seated, there is no harm tapping the table once in a while.

A good communicator moves but not too much.

Body language begins with what you wear. Because if you are obese and wearing a revealing outfit, it will not look good in both formal and informal meetings and lectures. Therefore dress appropriately. For women it is desirable to not show your cleavage and cover up as much as possible in formal meetings, it doesn’t make you look conservative, just that you can freely move and show that you mean work to be taken seriously. Dress up simple.

According to me, do not overdo when it comes to body language. How your body moves is unique. If you emulate others, it will become difficult to deliver the content. For example, if your ideal communicator walks a lot on stage and you want to imbibe that, you start doing the same and get distracted in the process. See what works for you.

Some people look up when speaking on stage, some look down. Practice looking straight ahead. Don’t fear an eye contact, this way you will know if your audience are following you or not agreeing with you. Effective communicators can change their words or leave a joke on stage when they find someone disinterested in the audience. Remember eye contact never makes you lose your audience.

Do not be fidgety. If in between you keep scratching your head, clawing your fingers when turning, bending your shoulders a lot on one side and moving hands in and out of your pocket. If you have postural problems, take the help of a table or podium to rest your hands. Practice this for 5 or more meetings. This will enable you to not be fidgety in the 6th lecture or meeting.

Do not be stiff. It shows you are scared. Free flowing movements are important for greater confidence even if you have a postural defect. Be free, no need to shout it out, keep to your tone to not shake or become stiff. There is no harm if you speak from your belly. I mean moving your abdomen when emphasizing. It shows you want to explain.

Those of us who are not so much expressive, can just go with the flow and cordially finish up the meeting by keeping it simple and elegant.