During classroom training, trainers need to be as engaging as possible and that involves moving in a dynamic way, including hand gestures. But in today’s Advisor, we hear from an expert on how to ensure that your hand gestures are enhancing—and not distracting—from your safety message.
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Hand gestures can build trainers’ credibility during training—or damage it, says Carol Kinsey Gorman, Ph.D., a keynote speaker, executive coach, and author of several books, including The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work (www.CKG.com).
“Most of all, you want people to see your hands,” she says. “Do not put them in your pockets, behind your back, or behind a podium.” If you don’t keep your hands where your audience can see them, people will perceive you as being “untrustworthy.”
“If an audience does not trust the presenter, or at least thinks that the speaker believes what he is saying, then it will be almost impossible for that speaker to get his or her message across,” she says.
It is also important for trainers to keep their palms facing up at about a 45-degree angle because that is a sign of “candor and openness,” Gorman explains.
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If a trainer is “authentic” in his or her approach, appropriate hand gestures will come naturally, Gorman says. “You’ve got to know what you’re talking about, and you’ve got to be sold that what you’re talking about is valuable.”
“Authentic gestures begin split seconds before the words that accompany them,” she says. “They will either precede the word or will be coincident with the word, but will never come after the word.”
Gorman says trainers should avoid certain hand gestures, such as finger-pointing (which gives the impression that you are scolding someone), putting your hands on your hips (which communicates defiance), and talking with your palms faced down (which is a controlling signal).
Trainers should be aware of their hand gestures, but Gorman cautions against overusing them. “I know people cringe, but videotaping yourself is a really great idea.” You can watch the video yourself or asked a coach or trusted friend to do so. Even watching the video with the volume off will help you identify hand gestures that worked effectively—and those that did not.
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Why It Matters
- Content is still king when it comes to safety training.
- But presentation is still the key to the kingdom of successful safety training that transfers to safe behaviors on the job.
- Therefore, learning how to present your message as effectively as possible is one of the most crucial and worthwhile endeavors you can undertake, hands down. Or is it palms up?
I understand the comments made and know that on the physical appearance approach, a person that folds their arms or crosses their legs is being protective, with many various characteristics that are highlight from a persons gestures. The open palm concept is communicative but with the trait of character the clasping a podium, clasping your hands behind your back , performing minimum hand gestures or pocketing your hands is not defence, shy or heavily protective, providing the presenter is knowledgeable of the information in relation to their presentation.
You may want to find Chirologia: or the Natural Language of the Hand and Chironomia: or the Art of Manual Rhetoric by John Bulwer (published in 1644) or possibly something a little more recent. It contains illustrations and discussions of the use of hand gestures in oratory in classical history.