93% of communication takes place non-verbally. That means only 7% of your message will be
expressed by what you say. The rest is communicated through body language.
Let's look at the different kinds of body language
starting with the most basic: posture. Posture refers to how you stand.
You should stand with your feet apart and your weight
equally divided over both feet. You should be upright
and not slouch - that means bending up like a sack of potatoes.
Not only is this bad for the body, producing back problems,
it also affects the clarity of your voice. A bent posture restricts your breathing by
constricting your chest. Sounds are blocked and your voice won't carry. Apart from this,
a bad posture looks slovenly and creates a bad impression.
Finally, if you want to appear confident you must stand well.
Be aware of your facial expression. Try not to look miserable even if you feel
it. Don't freeze with fear either. Smile, but
don't use a fake smile. If you are genuinely interested in your topic
then you'll want to share it with the audience.
This should make you feel happy. Next, try to use gestures.
These are the small movements you make with your hands and
arms in order to enhance your words. The important thing is to keep the gestures
small - less is more - and to let them flow naturally
from what you say. They should be connected to the thought not
pinned for the sake of it. If you are frozen with fear,
your body will be locked and it will be difficult for a gesture to occur. If you can relax
and we'll look at this later on, gestures will come naturally. After all, we
don't have any problems gesturing in real life and, with
our bodies relaxed, we won't have any problems gesturing during
a presentation. Try to avoid pointing at people in the audience
as this is a rude thing to do in most cultures.
Also, don't stand with your hands in your pockets or
cross your arms. It's best to stand with your hands
loose at your sides. If you feel self-conscious about this,
then it's OK to hold your note cards or a pen,
as long as you don't fiddle with them. This brings me to mannerisms: these are
little idiosyncratic movements that are distracting for other people.
Examples are playing with one's hair, touching the ears or nose or wiping one's
forehead. All of these become irritating and will detract
attention from your talk. Be aware of any mannerisms you may have.
Make eye-contact with as many people as possible but don't skim over them. Don't stare either.
Neither of these are natural. Try to maintain the kind of eye contact you
would in real life. Again, we have no problems when talking to
friends and, if you regard the audience as friends and
not foes, you should have no problems here.
Finally, a word about movement. Standing in the same
place looks unnatural and becomes boring. On the other hand,
it is equally inappropriate to pace about, rock to and fro,
or sway from side to side. It may be effective to take a small
step to the side when moving to a new section but this should be
done to punctuate a change of thought. You can move slightly
towards the audience or towards the screen. Be aware of your
movements and avoid overdoing them.