What Your Hands Have To Say

By Jeffrey M. Bowen

When someone says, “Let me see your hands,” it may remind you of your mom when she wanted to make sure you had washed up before dinner. Or you think of the times you raised your hand to vote or to affirm an oath. In fact, we depend on our hands for an endless variety of reasons.

 Your hands can help you clarify what others are saying as well as your own intentions. As nonverbal clues to your emotions and dispositions, look no further than what your hands say about you.

As a high school student years ago, I competed in “original oratory”.  My coaches insisted on my using an array of gestures to get my message across. They were very right.  Rehearsed beforehand, the strategy worked beautifully if my gestures matched the inflections and cadence of my talk. Somehow the hand movements helped me maintain eye contact, and to speak out more clearly and confidently. 

Many decades later, as a school administrator, I was invited to judge original speeches delivered by student members of Future Farmers of America.  Those few who instinctively gestured as they spoke obviously knew their topic and felt confident and passionate about it. Unfortunately, when other students came to address our school board on some issue, they usually looked down, mumbled, and held onto their papers for dear life.

Besides convincing me that every student deserves the opportunity to learn public speaking, these experiences made me realize that using one’s hands will add excellent value to one’s speech and personal presence.

To make what we say more memorable, according to applied research by the Max Planck Institute, we should emphasize certain “beat” gestures while speaking.  Five distinct kinds of gestures were identified:  pointing at something or someone, mimicking an action, expressing an abstract concept, symbolic gestures (we all know what that middle finger means), and motor gestures to reinforce the stressed syllables (the beat) of what we are saying.

When words were matched with beat gestures, listeners were 20 percent more likely to hear and remember the words being spoken. When there was a deliberate mismatch, listeners were 40 percent more likely to misunderstand or misremember what was said.

As humans we are truly fortunate to have such adaptable appendages, including how expressive our fingers can be. Lately we have been tv streaming the show “Wednesday,” which features a colorfully creepy adolescent girl whose constant rescuer is a disconnected “Hand”.  There is no end to what that hand can communicate and pull off by relying on the eloquent signals sent by his fingers.

We are mesmerized by the tactile messages sent by hands. Consider the impact of touching others. When you gently touch someone as you speak to them, the message and the affection come across far more effectively than speaking from a distance.

A handshake carries many meanings (dating back to the 9^th century B.C.E.). It may be a greeting, congratulations, or it may convey peaceful intentions or agreements between countries. Customs vary by culture. My experience suggests that using the right hand is expected and the strength of the grip is a measure of personality. When greeting one another, individuals who avoid handshakes altogether risk being viewed as unwelcoming and unappealing.

Employers place a high priority on hires who bring strong oral communication skills to the job.  Surveys have shown that experience in public speaking often outweighs problem solving and critical thinking. When I interviewed candidates, I used to watch how they presented their hands.

None of all this is mysterious. Hearing and seeing go together. Hand gestures are a  valuable cognitive and emotional asset. They represent fluency without a word being said.