by Lyndsay Swinton » Fri Jun 11, 2004 8:52 am
Hi San,
Some people like animated speakers pacing the stage arms waving, other's prefer a more sedate, still speaker. How you move on stage affects the energy level of the audience. Keeping your eyes on a busy speaker is exhausting over time however at the opposite end a still speaker will have your audience snoozing comfortably. Echoing Mike's suggestion about breaking your presentation into stages, you may want to consider the amount of energy required for that stage, and therefore how physically active you want to be.
First things first, if you are new to presenting, I would opt for the calm end of the spectrum as this will help you manage involuntary, nervous movements. And practice in front of a video. Replay with the sound switched off and see how you come across physically. Where are your eyes looking? What are your hands doing?
As an interesting aside, watch newsreaders and notice how still they hold their heads. If you held your head that still in a real life conversation people may think you have a neck problem, but it works for TV or video-conferencing.
Tony Blair is a good politician to watch for posture whilst presenting. One favoured gesture to emphasise a point is using both hands, knuckles bared to the audience. (Difficult to describe but watch and you'll spot it quickly). This is an aggressive gesture, challenging his audience to contradict his point - hence the knuckles.
Bill Clinton uses a lip bite when aiming to convey sincerity, as if he is too emotional to say the words. And analysis has proven that he uses this as a conscious technique to manipulate the emotional state of his audience.
You may want to consider your appearance. Clothes, hairstyle, jewellery etc can enhance or detract your appearance, so take a moment to think about what impression you want to make.
I hope that this gives you something to think about San! Let us know how you get on.