Body Language in Public Communication

Will Bradley, May 2019

Background Hand Motions Stance

• Psychological studies show that 93% of oral communication Strong Gestures • Start in neutral stance
comes from non-verbal cues • Steepling • Feet hip distance apart
• 55% is communicated through body language • Communicates confidence • Look toward ceiling

• 38% is communicated through tone of voice • Best used sparingly, to emphasize main • Raise hands above head
points
• Drop arms to side
• 7% is communicated through speech • Popular with politicians: Winston Churchill,
• Remain in this base posture
• Key components of body language include: Mikhail Gorbachev and Barack Obama all
used steepling • Gesture from this stance
Angela Merkel, German
• Facial expressions • Open palm gestures Chancellor
• Return to same stance
• Hand motions • Builds trust with audience
Colin Bailie, PhD, Stanford
Graduate School of
(“Make Body Language Your Superpower”) Business
• Stance • Both single and double arm useful

• Movement • Audience compliance for a command

(for example, “Please stand”) is
(Belludi)
highest (84%) when given with palm-up Movement on Stage
gesture
Jeong Joon Ha, Stanford Graduate • Movement helps maintain audience attention
School of Business
Facial Expressions Undesirable Gestures • Move forward to emphasize a point

• Audiences perceive the top half of face as more • Palms down

• Move backward to change to a new topic
authentically portraying emotions than the bottom • Audience compliance only 52%
half of face • Don’t turn back towards the audience
• Can be seen as threatening or
• Raising the eyebrows at the beginning of a untrustworthy
speech is a good way to engage the audience
• Pointing Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the References
• Smiling also establishes rapport with the United States
audience and makes both audience and speaker • Audience compliance only 28% Belludi, Nagesh. “Albert Mehrabian's 7-38-55 Rule of Personal Communication.” Right Attitudes,
27 Oct. 2017, www.rightattitudes.com/2008/10/04/7-38-55-rule-personal-
confident in what is being presented • Often interpreted as too aggressive communication/.

”Make Body Language Your Superpower.” Youtube, uploaded by Standford Graduate School of
• Facial expressions can be the key means to Business, 14 May 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFLjudWTuGQ.
communicating a joke to the audience (“Make Body Language Your Superpower”)
“Use Body Language to Rock Your Next Presentation.” Youtube, uploaded by Standford
Ronald Reagan, 40 President of the
th
Graduate School of Business, 26 Jul 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp
(”Use Body Language to Rock Your Next Presentation”)
United States 4YlyXjcKl.