All of us are trained in the use of speech, to communicate what we mean in a way that other people will understand. And most of the time, others understand what we mean. In a telephone conversation, we communicate through speech alone. In a face-to-face meeting, part of the communication is carried in a non-verbal form, what is often called body language or body movement. In the next paragraphs, I am going to show what are the positive and negative of body language and why it is important to us. Body language and non-verbal communication play a major role in determining how effective we are as presenters. The cues and messages that we send out while we are speaking during our presentations can either reassure our audience and therefore reinforce our spoken message, or detract from our credibility and in so doing dramatically reduce our effectiveness. For example, imagine that that you are watching through a window as someone does a presentation to a group of people in a room. You can't actually hear the presenter's voice, but he or she seems to be speaking clearly, is making eye contact with various people in the room, is emphasizing points using appropriate hand gestures, appears to be in command of the material, and exudes enthusiasm. Without even hearing what they are actually saying, your impression will be one of competence, sincerity; even leadership on the part of this presenter, and you will have made these determinations on the basis of body language alone. On the other hand, imagine that you are watching under similar circumstances while a second person does a presentation. This time, you notice that the person avoids direct eye contact with their audience, keeps their hands in their pockets or at their sides, shifts their weight uncomfortably, and generally appears unenthusiastic about their topic. On the basis of their body language, your impression will be one of a lack of boredom on the part of the presenter. Positive bo...
