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The Language of the Body

One of the best locations to study the body language is a political rally. Each speaker has already worked out his verbal message, usually a string of highly predictable platitudes calculated to gain him applause. But while he is mouthing his utterances, his hands are busy too. He will not be aware precisely what they are doing, merely that they are beating time to his statements and helping to underline them. If we ignore his words and focus exclusively on his hands, it soon becomes clear that he employs some major hand signals.

If he is making a powerful point, he will clench his fist, as if about to punch an invisible opponent. If he is trying to chop down a rival proposal, he switches instead to the hand-chop gesture, cutting down through the air as forcibly as possible with a flattened hand, its hard edge pointing down. With this action he transforms his hand into a symbolic axe.

For those who wish to appear forceful, but not too violent, there is a slightly milder hand gesture — the semi-clenched fist. With the thumb uppermost, on top of the bent forefinger, this half-fist is jerked in the air to emphasize point after point in the speaker's words. It is almost as if he is serving an invisible writ on his audience. This gesture is favoured by politicians.

In a more dominant mood, the speaker introduces the palm-down hand posture, usually with a few slight downward movements. In this he is symbolically calming down his audience, as if it were composed entirely of unruly children. If he is less sure of himself, he uses the opposite hand signal, with the palm up. This is a gesture of the beggar, reaching out his hand for help. This particular gesture is universal and can even be seen in wild chimpanzees when begging for food from companions.

If the speaker wishes his audience to embrace his ideas, he offers them a hint of an embrace in his hand gestures. He reaches out both hands, with his palms facing one another, as if trying to hug his audience at a distance. This is a favourite gesture of good communicators, who know the value of making their audience feel intimate with those on the platform.

Finally there is one more special forefinger gesture much loved by the more aggressive politicians, that is a prodding forefinger, aimed straight towards the audience, as if stabbing them into submission.

There are, of course, many other gesticulations employed during speech-making. Because both the speaker and the audience are primarily focused on the words being spoken, none of these gestures is deliberately made or deliberately read. They form a sub-text which carries with it a mood communication system that imparts far more information than any of those present may realize. They will transmit to the audience either a feeling that the speaker is not to be trusted or that he means what he says. If his verbal message is false or exaggerated, his gestures will give him away. They will make a "bad fit" with his words and leave the audience uncomfortable, without knowing quite why. If they match well with the spoken words, the listeners will unconsciously sense that harmony and will respond more positively.

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