By Glenn Whitney

Actors and comedians have known it for centuries. Now there is scientific evidence that communicators who use gestures may be better understood – by others and themselves!

A fascinating article in Scientific American suggests that gesturing may make you smarter.

Some people are already aware of this phenomenon themselves – that the physical act of using their hands kick starts their brains into action. Elaborate and expressive gesturing is a hallmark of the communication style of numerous cultures, notably Italians, Greeks and Mexicans. And, of course, before primitive homo sapiens could do much communicating with their tongues, they used their hands.

As communication coaches we often see anxious executives sitting deathly still, desperate not to look nervous, finding it impossible to string a sentence together when the time comes for lights, camera, action.

Highly-intelligent executives often give some of the most dreadfully dull and forgettable presentations in the business world.

Frequently what is required is to retrain people, encourage them to let themselves go and reconnect their brains to their bodies. For television interviews, gestures are ideally contained to the area below the chin and above the chest and the speed of movement should be slowed down by 25% to 50%. But even a bit of erratic movement is better than none at all.

(gwhitney@ecdinsight.com)