Even When Zoomin’, Don’t Sit on Your Most Visual Communications Tools

By Steve Johnson

Not once in my 27 years in the communications industry have I told someone they use their hands too much.

NOT. ONCE.

Frankly, most people don’t use them enough. Now with most every meeting being over video, hands have basically disappeared from the communications signals available to us. But even when Zooming, your hands are your most visual communications tool – use them!

First off, you can use them to help yourself. Studies make it clear that using your hands is directly linked to your speech. Dr. Kinsey Goman, author of The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work, has spent her career inspecting hand use and posture, and she notes gesturing can help people form clearer thoughts, speak in tighter sentences and use more declarative language.

A brain region known as the Broca’s area is at least partly responsible for this. Located in the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere, it is connected to speech production. But it also is active when we wave our hands. Goman notes these gestures help drive your thinking in real time. These are critical elements when trapped inside a laptop.

And fun fact for those of you who feel anxiety when speaking in front of groups small and/or large, using your hands becomes a natural outlet for nervous energy. It is an opportunity to use your adrenaline to your advantage. Scientifically, you are moving yourself from the sympathetic nervous system (flight) to the parasympathetic (business as usual).

Research demonstrates that the movements we make with our hands when we talk constitute a kind of second language. It adds information not included in our words. Annie Murphy Paul, author of Brilliant: The New Science of Smart, says it is learning’s secret code, revealing both what we know and don’t know.

In adults, however, a discrepancy between speech and body language usually comes with a different result. People are less likely to trust or align with adults whose motions and words don’t seem to match. Research shows that audiences tend to view people who use a greater variety of gestures in a more favorable light. Those who “talk” with their hands tend to be seen as warm, agreeable and energetic, while those who are less animated are seen as logical, cold and analytical.

On top of that, Spencer Kelly, associate professor of Psychology and co-director of the Center for Language and Brain at Colgate University, found gestures make people pay attention to the acoustics of speech. Spencer even found that blind people use hand gestures when speaking with other blind people.

If you need any more proof, a study analyzing TED Talks last year found that the most popular, viral speakers used an average of 465 hand gestures – nearly twice as many as the least popular speakers used. That may (MAY!) have an impact on your credibility.

Every culture uses hands when speaking to some degree. Nothing in strategic communications should be viewed as an add-on.

Break out of the box in which Zoom or Webex or Facebook Messenger Rooms traps you. Differentiate your visual. Leverage your strongest visual communications tool to deliver your message.