Do you use hand gestures while speaking?
By whyaskq
@whyaskq (7523)
Singapore
July 13, 2007 11:24am CST
I was in the bus. Sitting opposite me was a lady chatting over the phone using a earpiece. She was comparing and describing a restaurant she has been to. As she speaks and describes the ambience and the serving of the steak she and her friends order, her hands were picturing the position of the tables and sizes of the steak and other servings. She stopped when she saw me looking at her, but after a while, she is back with her gestures.
I looked around. There are others on the phone too, but they do not have gestures. Some were playing with the earpiece though.
I understand when making presentations to an audience, appropriate hand gestures helps to bring the message across better. However, over the phone, how does hand gestures help? I guess the lady has the habit of using hand gestures whenever she speaks. And her gestures were not subtle, it was sort of open.
Friends, do you have such a habit? Do you make use of hand gestures or any body
language when you speak to anyone, either face to face or over the phone? Have you encountered someone with exaggerating gestures whenever he/she speaks? Or are you also one who speaks without gestures? Kindly share.
4 people like this
21 responses
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
13 Jul 07
I think that lady was just feeling excited.
I do have quite a number of hand gestures that complement what I say when I want too. Or just when I get excited, they might come out naturally.
But normally these days, I am seldom so "worked up" and gestures do not come unless I will them.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
13 Jul 07
Oh pardon me I missed that question. Normally I don't gesture on the phone - not unless I am really oblivious of the surrounding or if I am trying to impress someone nearby LOL.:P
2 people like this
@ackars (1942)
• India
13 Jul 07
I never use hand gesters while talking.But there are many friends of mine who use the same.They sometimes gets scoldings from the professors when it exceeds a limit.
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
14 Jul 07
HAHAHA!!! I teach nursing at our local college. I had worried about my habit of using my hands while I speak. I even posted a topic here on myLot about it. Many replied and told me that to use my hands while lecturing was actually good. (I had asked how I could STOP using my hands). I have started noticing and you are correct, people even do it when they are on the phone! I pulled up beside a lady at a redlight the other day. She was using her cell (I could see the earpiece) and her hands were going a mile-a-minute! I remember thinking to myself, "I hope her phone call ends before the light changes, as she would be quite dangerous driving like this!" I have also become very aware of my own hands when I speak and I think I am okay...I tend to move then when lecturing but not so badly when I am in everyday conversation.
1 person likes this
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
17 Jul 07
My hubby loves to tell everyone that if I had my hands tied behind my back, I wouldn't be able to talk. LOL I catch myself all the time using my hands gesturing, no matter whether I am face to face with someone, or on the phone. It's definitely a hard habit to break, and one that I have given up on. I think I take after my mom, because she did the same thing. The funny thing is that I used to stand behind her and imitate her gestures, and now my kids do the same thing to me!
1 person likes this
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
25 Jul 07
Most definitely! I did it to my mom all the time when I was younger. That is, until my brother was standing in front of her one day when I started in. He couldn't keep a straight face, and then started laughing really hard. My mom turned around before I could stop, and I ended up running like crazy OUT of the house with her chasing me! Fortunately, she was laughing too.
1 person likes this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
13 Jul 07
I'm Portuguese. Of course I speak with my hands LOL
Actually compared to most Portuguese people I am on the conservative side of hand gestures - which for normal people means simply that I use my hands a lot when talking heheheh
This part of my heritage also gets me to get closer to people while I"m talking, to talk usually a bit louder than what is normal in here and touch frequently to make a point LOL
The concept of personal space was basically alien to me until I came to Canada - apart from formal situations -. ANd at first it was complicated to understand it. WHy were those people backing of when I was talking? Did I smell or something ? LOL
Nowadays when I'm with people from back home I tend to feel that they are talking a bit loud, but I never noticed it when I was there :):)
1 person likes this
@WiteNgtOwl (304)
• United States
10 Jan 08
Heck Ya, I use my hands to talk. Its just a habbit. I tried to talk one day with out doing that and it just didient work. My hands had a diffrent story. No matter how I talk, my hand have to be envolved. LOL
1 person likes this
@weemam (13372)
•
13 Jul 07
I do this all the time , My hubby smiles and I realize what I am doing lol , It is worse if I am giving soeone directions lol I am all over the place , I bet that woman didn't even know she was doing it lol . Even when I am telling someone a story I use my hands lol , take care pal xx
1 person likes this
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
14 Jul 07
no, i'm not... i don't really use hand gesture when speaking... only when i get too emotional then i will use hand gestures... that is also not often... only once in a while...
1 person likes this
@thrwbckjay67 (2870)
• United States
13 Jul 07
I do... I also do that over the phone, too. It's not that it's trying to help the conversation or anything, it's just the way I speak. It's become an subconscious thing for me to gesture, even when I am only talking on the phone. Sometimes, those movements help me focus better and understand what I am trying to say because they give me a visual as to what I am doing. I don't have overly exaggerated gestures, but I do know that I move a little more than considered regular when talking. It also comes from a background in school government growing up, regularly giving speeches to board members and PTA meetings.
1 person likes this
@heartsick (832)
• Philippines
14 Jul 07
i use hand gesture when speaking in public or when i'm presenting a report... but sometimes, when i have conversation with my friends and when we really having fun, i use hand gestures to exaggerate things..
1 person likes this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
15 Jul 07
i use hand gestures, but only when there's someone to see it! no point gesturing when my friend's miles away even if on the phone!
i think she's just some super drama person. i suppose she was speaking kinda loudly too. but totally weird to gesture on the phone. small gestures are understandable esp when a person is describing location - like 'search under the table, under. it's there, do you see it? under!"
but large gestures? nope, have not seen folks do that. unless they are trying to draw attention to themselves...
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (91970)
• United States
13 Jul 07
I have seen what you are talking about. I've also seen someone hit another person because of the gestures they use while they are on the phone. I find it somewhat rude. Unless I am talking to someone face to face, I don't use hand gestures. I don't want to inconvenience anyone and it just draws attention to one's self. I do though make facial expressions. I don't make them in the assumption they will help me communicate. I just think facial expressions sometimes go along with the topic, because we are also talking to ourselves. In an important location though, my face remains impassive no matter what I am speaking about.
1 person likes this
@cjulsmile (22)
• Philippines
13 Jul 07
I use hand gestures a lot. I do not know when i started this habit. I can see myself in the shoes of the lady on the phone with exaggerated hand gestures because I do that too. I think it is one way to get one's point across when you talk to someone face to face but when on the phone, I think it is because of habit.
@liranlgo (5752)
• Israel
13 Jul 07
well yes i am one of those. I can not remember myself any other way. I always use gestures while speaking.
I know that my mother always tells me that it is nice for a lady to use all of this gestures.
But i really do not care about that. I guess it is a part of me.
@xiaonikeng (59)
• China
14 Jul 07
Well, I often use gestures while talking. Because my friends and I are from different countries, and sometimes we cannot understand each other, so at that time using gestures helps a lot.
1 person likes this
@anhsy1011 (56)
• China
14 Jul 07
I never use hand gestures when talking with others, I think I can express my meaning in my words enough, gestures will not be helpful.
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