COMMUNICATION SKILLS UNIT 1

“Gestures, Body Language and Facial

Expressions ”

Have you ever been

to London?

Have you ever

seen the

Queen’s

Guards??

Vis

Something you will

notice is no matter what

you say or do they won’t

move, make a facial

expression or smile!!!

Funny Example….

For the Queens Guard staying

totally still and being completely

focused is essential……

But for a public speaker it’s exactly

opposite….

Our Goal is Projection not Protection!

We project into the minds of our audience

thoughts, concepts and ideas!

To do this with success we must use more

than our mouths… Also our hands, eyes…

Our entire bodies!

Why Important?

According to many experts 90% of communication is non verbal.

This means that for us to project our message into the minds of others we need to realize that it’s not just what comes out of our mouth which is important.

What do these Gestures and

Facial Expressions show?

HOW TO DO IT….

• Use movement of the hands, shoulders or the entire

body to express ideas, sentiments or attitudes.

• Use the eyes and the mouth as well as the positioning

of the head to reinforce the spoken word and to

convey feelings.

• CAUTION: A book cannot teach you this. These

actions must be spontaneous, they come from within.

They are natural reactions which complement the

spoken word.

GESTURES!!

Descriptive Gestures Emphatic Gestures

• These show:

Dimension

Location

Distance

Size

Direction

Relative Position

• Express:

– Feelings

– Conviction

– Punctuate

– Vitalize

– Reinforce

Repetitive use of same gesture can be

distracting

Overuse can be irritating for audience

THINGS TO AVOID….

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS….

SERIOUS ANGER HAPPINESS

DISAPPOINTMENT SURPRISE SADNESS

“The eyes are the window to the soul”

William Shakespeare

• The eyes are the focal point in communication. They

are what the audience are fixed on.

• Like a steering wheel of a car your eyes direct your

words.

• BUT: They work in harmony with the movement of your

hands, mouth and the inclination of your head.

VisWhen giving a speech

we many times ask

rhetorical questions!

These need to be

accompanied with a

Facial expression and

a Gesture.

VisWhen we give the

answer our face and

gesture would be

accompanied by an

expression indicating

interest, relief or

conviction.

BODY LANGUAGE!

This can be described as a

combination of facial

expressions and gestures

combined with the movement

of your entire body!!

Let’s see an Example….

Vis

What are your thoughts after

viewing that video?

Let’s play TABOO!!

Rules of the game:

The objective of the game is for a player to have their partners guess the

word on the cards without using the word itself or five additional words

listed on the card.

SUNNYbright/morning/summer/day/yellow

CINEMAfilm/movie/screen/seat/row

SOFAsit/living room/tv/furniture/relax

VIRUSemail/flue/internet/dangerous/sick

MOTORCYCLEhelmet/drive/yamaha/honda/harley

BEEhoney/insect/hive/sting/maya

FOOTshoe/sock/toes/smell/body

VIOLINstrings/orchestra/music/instrument/wood

POTATOvegetable/french fries/eat/mash/chips

MOTHERwoman/house wife/parent/children/father

HOLIDAYsun/beach/free/summer/school

CLOWNjoker/circus/red nose/make up

SWIMMING-POOLwater/summer/slide/bath

MARRYwedding/ring/groom/bride/cake

PRETTYJulia Roberts/beautiful/girl/attractive/Richard

Gere

KETCHUPtomato/sauce/red/bottle

STREETroad/pavement/drive/traffic/highway

DOLPHINocean/swim/animal/fish/friendly

RAINprecipitation/water/sky/wet/drops

BOOKpage/chapter/read/novel/library

DIAPERScloth/wet/baby/change/poop

LIPSTICKred/lips/women/beautiful

TABLEroom/dish/furniture/wood/chair

VisDon't animate

or mime your

entire speech

Refrain from copying others, the best gestures are unique to you

New gestures may

feel strange at first

so practice them

until you feel comfortable

Avoid finger and

fist gestures that

may be insulting

to other cultures

PRESENTATION TIME!!!