Mr. LeBeau
tells VOA that body language includes posture, eye contact and gestures - how
you move your hands or arms. “For the physical message, a lot of non-native5 presenters6 are going
to have problems with posture, and eye contact, and gestures. I think a lot of
this comes from nervousness7. Not only are they nervous because they’re
doing a presentation, but in addition
to8 that they’re really nervous because of their English,
and their lack of confidence9,
lack of experience in their English, they’re trying to figure out the grammar9, what I want to say, and
they’re having all kinds of difficulty doing that, and also controlling their
body.”
We have all
seen11 nervous
presenters in classrooms and meetings. One effect of being nervous is moving from side to side12.
A presenter does not need to stand
perfectly still13. In fact an audience can lose interest in
a speaker who does not move. How a
speaker moves is important. Whole-body14
movement should be15
slow and planned to command attention. Such16
movement helps to communicate confidence. New public speakers know that they
should look at the audience while17
they speak. But they look at their notes on a paper or at the screen18 if they have
an electronic presentation.
“With posture, the typical problem that I see is that they are often moving back and forth19,
and they’re not facing20
the audience. They’ll often be facing the white board or the screen with slides
and be talking to that rather than
talking to21 the audience. Same thing22 with eye contact – they find23 it really,
really difficult - some of them find it really difficult – making eye contact
with the audience, because they’ll be looking at their notes, they’ll be
looking at their computer, they’ll be looking at the screen, they will be
looking at the floor24.
The problem of having notes, and trying to talk from notes , often is a big
problem. So they have trouble25
with eye contact.”
Charles
LeBeau says the best way to avoid26
this problem is to use images and few
words27 for notes instead
of28 sentences. The image should help communicate the point
you want to make. Writing a few words with the image on your slide helps you
remember that point. Then you can look at the audience while speaking.
“Another
problem I’ve noticed is oftentimes29
there’ll be30 a
lot of sentences or words on the slides and no images. So I think the key is if
they can figure out what images to use that will communicate their message, because
the images will communicate faster and more clearly than words.” Holding on31 to notes
also makes it more difficult for a speaker to gesture naturally.
Mr. LeBeau’s
book, “Speaking of Speech32,”
discusses this. He says gestures should support33 the point
the speaker is making. For example, when talking about three ideas, hold up
three fingers to introduce them34.
Then hold up one finger while explaining the first idea, two fingers for the
second, and so on35.
Other
experts advise36
moving your body to a different place for each idea. Stay in place until you
finish making that point. Then move to the next place on the stage37 or in the
room.
Mr. LeBeau
says a good way to change your body language is to make a video of your
presentation and watch yourself38.
This helps you to become aware of39
what you need to change.
“I find often times, the gestures don’t look
natural.They are poorly delivered40,
or they are just nonexistent41.
Students can video themselves, and then look at it, they can clearly see: “Oh,
My! I had no idea that I looked like
that42! My posture! I’m moving all over the place.
Look at my hips43. It’sgoing
back and forth and back and forth. And my eye contact! All of these other goofy things that I’m doing without noticing it, or thinking that ‘well, it’s not such a big deal45.’ But if I can see it I can realize46 oh, ‘ok, I
see, I see, I see what I’m doing.’ I think that helps them change more quickly.
So they can do their presentation again, and work on changing, then they can
compare, and they can see that they can make quick improvement47.”
An
important part of public speaking is practice48.
When you practice remember these important tips: Be aware of49 your posture, eye contact, and
gestures. Record yourself using a phone, tablet, or camera. Watch yourself and
plan what you will do to improve. Look for50 opportunities to speak and gain51 more confidence.
Mr. LeBeau says his students find the physical message the easiest thing to
change in order to become52
a better presenter.
“The first
thing that we deal with53
is the physical message. And the reason we do that is so students can have a
real positive experience really quickly. You know, I looked like54 this in the beginning and now, after
one day, or a couple of55
classes, now I look like this - I do look much better! I think it helps them
feel more positive about the experience. It helps them see that ‘yes, I can do
this, I can look confident.’ So, I think that it’s the easiest to change, and maybe56 the most
important thing to deal with first.”
In our next
Speaking Tips, we will look at the visual message, the visual aids57 you show the audience, and the
story message, how to organize the ideas you present.
Vocabulary
1.
subject
= assunto
2.
successful
= bem sucedido
3.
has
written = escreveu
4.
several
= diversos
5.
non-native
= não nativos
6.
presenters
= apresentadores
7.
nervousness
= nervosismo
8.
in
addition to = além de
9.
lack of confidence = falta de confiança
10.
figure
out the grammar = descobrir a gramática
11.
seen
= visto
12.
moving from side to side = mexendo-se de um lado
para o outro
13.
stand
perfectly still = ficar perfeitamente imóvel
14.
Whole-body
= do corpo todo
15.
should
be = deveria ser
16.
Such
= tal
17.
While
= enquanto
18.
Screen
= tela
19.
moving back and forth = movendo-se para a frente
e para trás
20.
facing
= encarando
21.
rather
than talking to = ao invés de conversar com
22.
Same
thing = a mesma coisa
23.
Find
= achar
24.
Floor
= chão
25.
Trouble
= problema, dificuldade
26.
the
best way to avoid = a melhor forma de evitar
27.
few
words = poucas palavras
28.
instead
of = ao invés de
29.
oftentimes
= muitas vezes
30.
there’ll
be = haverá
31.
Holding
on = segurar
32.
Speech
= discurso
33.
Support
= apoiar
34.
introduce
them = apresenta-los
35.
and so on = e assim por diante
36.
advise
= aconselham
37.
stage
= palco
38.
watch
yourself = assistir a si mesmo
39.
to
become aware of = tornar-se consciente de
40.
poorly
delivered = mal entregue
41.
just
nonexistent = simplesmente não existente
42.
looked
like that = parecia assim
43.
hips
= quadric
44.
goofy
things = coisas tolas
45.
it’s
not such a big deal = “não é grande coisa”
46.
realize
= perceber
47.
quick
improvement = melhoria rápida
48.
practice
= prática
49.
Be
aware of = esteja ciente de
50.
Look
for = procure
51.
Gain
= adquirir
52.
in
order to become = a fim de tornar-se
53.
deal
with = lidar com
54.
looked
like = parecer com
55.
a
couple of = alguns, algumas
56.
maybe
= talvez
57.
visual
aids = recursos visuais
