The Phone Booth Gesture Concept
Unless I am pointing to the board or a PowerPoint slide, I keep my gestures within my body. In other words, the background of my gesture is my shirt. I rarely gesture outside my body. When someone is gesturing outside their body, it throws light out, and it is distracting your message. I often imagine that I am speaking in a phone booth where I cannot move my arms to the side. Speaking in a phone booth forces me to gesture within my body. By gesturing within my body, I am showing power without the distraction of light.
Notice each gesture below is within my body.
The gestures below are outside my body. There are times when this is a good idea, but gestures distract the audience less when inside the body.
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