The importance of body language in public speaking=tầm quan trọng của ngôn ngữ cơ thể đối với việc thuyết trình trước đám đông

ABSTRACT This study investigates the importance of body language in public speaking by giving a basic knowledge background about public speaking and body language, providing some proble

VINH UNIVERSITY FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT

VINH UNIVERSITY FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT

THE IMPORTANCE OF BODY LANGUAGE

I am greatly indebted to the Department of Foreign Languages of Vinh University for offering me a great opportunity to carry out my study

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr Neil, a friend from USA, who has sent to me many websites and useful materials to do the research

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff and students of AMA Vinh for their kind support, cooperation and assistance during my survey

My warmest thanks are due to my beloved parents, my older sister, my younger brother for their help, support and encouragement

Vinh, 2014 Dang Thi Van

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the importance of body language in public speaking by giving a basic knowledge background about public speaking and body language, providing some problems that a speaker often faces when making a speech, and indicating the effectiveness of body language in public speaking Besides, the author conducts a small survey to assess the ability of reading the others‘ body language of students and their awareness of the importance of body language in public speaking More importantly, the author gives some main suggested tips for using body language

in public speaking effectively These tips are hoped to help the students overcome the fear of speaking in the public and maximize the benefits of using body language

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the Study 1

1.2 Purpose of the Study 1

1.3 Scope of the Study 2

1.4 Method of the Study 2

1.5 Design of the Study 3

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

2.1 Public Speaking 4

2.1.1 Definition 4

2.1.2 The Role of Public Speaking 4

2.1.3 Important Components in Public Speaking 5

2.1.3.1 Content Preparation and Time Control 5

2.1.3.2 Voice 6

2.1.3.3 Body Language 7

2.1.3.4 Attitude 7

2.1.3.5 Listening Skill 9

2.2 Body Language 9

2.2.1 Definition 9

2.2.2 The Role of Body Language 10

2.2.3 Main Components of Body Language 12

2.2.3.1 Facial expression 12

2.2.3.2 Smile 13

2.2.3.3 Eye-contact 14

2.2.3.4 Hand gestures 15

2.2.3.5 Appearance 16

2.2.3.6 Spatial Factor 17

2.3 Culture-Shock in Using Body Language 18

2.3.1 Handshake Culture 18

2.3.2 Eye-contact 19

2.3.3 Spatial factor 19

2.3.4 Smile 20

2.3.5 Hand gestures 21

CHAPTER 3: DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS 22

3.1 The Importance of Using Body Language in Public Speaking 22

3.1.1 Eye-contact 22

3.1.2 Facial Expression 22

3.1.3 Body Movement 23

3.1.4 Gesture 24

3.2 How does Body Language Reveal a Liar? 25

3.3 Student‘s Recognition about Body Language Importance 29

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 33

4.1 Summary of Study 33

4.2 Suggestions 33

4.2.1 Overcome the fear 34

4.2.1.1 Realize the source of your fear 34

4.2.1.2 Face down Your Fears 34

4.2.1.3 Breathe Deeply 34

4.2.1.4 Relax 35

4.2.1.5 Good preparation 35

4.2.2 The Power of Smile 35

4.2.3 Use Eye-Contact Effectively 36

4.2.3.1 See people in the right way 36

4.2.3.2 Move to another person at an appropriate time 36

4.2.3.3 Look for the audience‘s reaction 37

4.2.3.4 Respect people who are uncomfortable 37

4.2.4 Where can I put my Hand? 37

4.3 Suggestion For Futher Research 38

REFERENCES 39

APPENDIX 40

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: The Rank of the Fear 8

Table 2: Deception level of students in public 25

Table 3: Self-assessment of deception ability 25

Table 4: Level of deception found in public 25

Table 5: The reaction of a liar 26

Table 6: Student‘s feeling when speaking in public 29

Table 7: Student‘s ability to use body language 30

Table 8: Students‘ recognition about the role of body language 31

Table 9: Student‘s body language use in public speaking 31

Table 10: Student‘s ability to read body language 31

Chart 1: Body Language‘s Role 10

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the Study

In today's world, when knowledge becomes the measure of a country's development as well as the measure used to assess people, more and more people want

to assert their own value One of the best ways is to use the power of speech If you want to assert yourself, to express your views about the like or dislike a particular problem, then speak out You can be very good in a certain area, but no one will know

that if you do not speak out

We are witnessing a major change teaching methods that have made many significant progresses in the education system The most important change is to encourage self-study skill of the students, and to show what they have learned for all to see Presentation skill becomes more important than ever, accordingly

Body language is an essential characteristic that plays a significant role in creating effective changes that lead to growth and development of individuals Body language conveys more information about the true emotions of human For public speaking, it becomes a useful tool to increase the power of speech

Although we use body language everyday and we know it plays an important role in the success of the speech, most of us are not fully aware of the power of body language and how to use it for the most effective communication Most of us use it arbitrarily and inertia

For the above mentioned reasons, the author has decided to carry out a study on

the topic: ―The importance of body language in public speaking‖ with the hope to

contribute useful ways to body language use and to help students improve their public speaking skill

1.2 Purpose of the Study

This thesis has the following purposes:

- To provide a basic overview about public speaking and body language in order to help the reader understand what public speaking is, what body language is and the factors affecting them

- To point out the importance of using body language in public speaking which may help readers recognize the significance and the need to use body language in presentations

- To point out the mistakes that a presenter can make when using body language, through which some solutions will be provided to help avoid unnecessary mistakes

- To point out some differences in using body language in a number of countries to avoid causing misunderstanding situations

- To help the speaker use body language effectively and overcome the fear of speaking in public Besides, reading body language also helps readers discover the liar and interpret other people's feeling with a view to make communication more effective

1.3 Scope of the Study

Body language is a very interesting topic but it is very difficult to study Reading body language, involves having not only a deep knowledge about body language meaning but also a flexible observation skill Moreover, the body language is

so ambiguous and different It is difficult to identify the exact meaning

For those reasons, within the limitation of author‘s knowledge and the scope of

a graduation thesis, the author only focuses on the effectiveness of body language in public speaking

1.4 Method of the Study

In this study, questionnaire method is a cheap, useful and accurate way to get the information The author used it to check the student‘s ability of reading body language and the way they use body language as well as the difficulties they face to have suitable solutions

Main steps towards designing a questionnaire:

1 Writing an introduction for questionnaire

2 Setting up a list of questions

3 Collecting the sheets

4 Analyzing the collected information

5 Making recommendations for the data

The author uses the qualitative method to give a deep understanding about body language and public speaking Additionally, the author uses the data collected to make evidence for her point and increase the persuasiveness for the research Theoretical is

an important method in linguistic research

Because of the shortage of reference books, the author mainly searches the information on the internet She looks for books that read by many people and introduced by famous speakers as well as body language experts She selects the information that she thinks it will be useful for her study and make it easier to understand

The main strength of observation is that it provides direct access to the social phenomena under consideration Instead of relying on some kind of self-report, such as

asking people what they would do in a certain situation, you actually observe and record their behavior in that situation This, in principle at least, avoids the wide range

of problems associated with self-report In an interview situation or in response to a questionnaire item, for example, a person may not always provide accurate or complete information, or they might answer in ways that correspond to what is socially desirable

In this study the author uses observation method to observe the way people around use their body language to discover the difficulties they have and the connection between body language and verbal communication Moreover, the author also watches some video about famous people‘s speech to give some useful suggested tips to help student solve their problems

To implement this study, the author decides to use these methods for recognizing their advantages and conveniences To investigate the role of body language in public speaking, the author does believe that these are most suitable methods for the study

1.5 Design of the Study

The thesis consists of five chapters The first chapter is Introduction This chapter deals with the reasons of the author for choosing the topic of the study, the purpose, the scope and the structure of the study The second chapter (Literature review and theoretical background) gives a basic overview on public speaking and body language, factors of public speaking and body language, the difficulties in using body language and the differences in using body language in some countries Chapter

3 (Method of study) aims to point out the methods that the author applied in the study Questionnaire, observation, qualitative methods are used in this thesis Chapter 4 (Finding and discussion) analyzes the results of the questionnaires and the assessment

on the importance of body language in public speaking Besides, this chapter reveals some signals to detect a liar The importance of body language is also mentioned in this chapter In the last chapter (Conclusion), the author provides some suggested tips

to help the students use body language effectively and overcome the fear of public speaking Also, this chapter is the summary of main points that are presented in the study The suggestions for further study are also mentioned in this chapter The study ends with the ―References‖ with list of all the materials and sources of the information that are used in the study and the questionnaires designed for the students are also mentioned in this chapter

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Public Speaking

2.1.1 Definition

Public speaking is no longer a strange term nowadays It has also been defined

by many authors as follows:

―Public speaking is an art of delivering a speech in front of an audience‖ (Mark

Hanmade, How to master the art of public speaking, 2013).

To make it clear, he also stated that: ―Basically, public speaking is the act or process of making a speech in public You could also say it is the art of effective oral communication with an audience The word ―effective‖ implies that public speaking is much more than just talking at people ―Effective‖ means you are making a speech in a way that people understand and remember‖

We can see that public speaking is not simple like that we talk to someone The

important thing is that we can make others ―understand‖ and ―remember‖ what we said So it is an ―art‖ We can also find other definitions of public speaking such as: ―An oral presentation in which a speaker addresses an audience.‖(Rechard Nordquist,

Encyclopedia of Rhetoric,2001) Or ―Public speaking is giving a speech to an audience

of at least two individuals.‖ (Eva Ketter Labiak, A Definition of Public Speaking: Purpose, Need, and Development)

In any cases, public speaking is the interaction between the speaker and the listener However, we need at least 2 listeners, because with only one listener, it is called dyadic communication

2.1.2 The Role of Public Speaking

―If you want to be a leader, you had better be able to communicate.‖

- Paul Argenti states in his speech of The Importance of public speaking in 2011

To become a successful person, you firstly must be a good communicator For a politician, a national leader or a businessman, public speaking skill is one of the most important factors that decide their success For example, In US presidential election, election campaign stage is the most important stage The two candidates will have many activities of advertising and propagating There will be many speeches as well The residents of the United States will hear them talk about the changes, the promises, the benefits and what they will do if they become a president If they have the convincing presentations, they could achieve their own image success In that way, the opportunity

to become president is greater

Even if you are not a famous person who has great influence to the world, there will be plenty of situations that you need public speaking skill Being a teacher, a salesman, an officer or even a student, you are required to have presentation skills In particular, when teacher-centered method is no longer accepted, public speaking skill for the learners is becoming more and more necessary than ever Group assignments, individual assignments, or when explaining an issue, giving opinion about a problem,

a student must have undergone at least one

We all see the importance of public speaking to each individual But how can a good public speaker affect others?

―In public speaking, as in any form of communication, there are five basic

elements, often expressed as "who is saying what to whom using what medium with what

effects?" The purpose of public speaking can range from simply transmitting information,

to motivating people to act, to simply telling a story Good orators should be able to change the emotions of their listeners, not just inform them ―- (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The general purpose of public speaking is not only to deliver some information

to people but also to change their view We know about Serven - a 12 year old from Canada who made the world silent for 6 minutes at the UN Earth Summit in 1992 Severn had shown those who are called intelligent, the country is said to be civilized, developed about what they have done for future generations, about promises that have never been made She finished her speech by saying: ―Well, what you do makes me cry at night You grownups say you love us I challenge you, please make your actions reflect your words‖ Or we know about Philippines‘s Delegate Yeb Sano who made an emotional plea at UN Climate Summit He said about what his family and country had

to sufferer from super storm- Haiyan and called for urgent action to prevent a similar disaster He refused to call the events like these as natural disasters He made the world think about the way they had treated to the Earth and made it worse and worse

So, a powerful speech can change the world

2.1.3 Important Components in Public Speaking

2.1.3.1 Content Preparation and Time Control

Even a famous and perennial speaker must also prepare what to say before making a presentation Imaging what would happen if you stood in front of many other people but could not remember what to say or say silly things It is terrible

There is a fact that the more you prepare, the better the speech will be If you make a 30 minute bad speech to an audience of 200 people, it only takes you 30 minutes, but you will waste 100 hours of listeners- more than 4 full days

The reason why the audience comes and listens to you is that they want to have some useful tips to take home In order for them to understand the value you give, it has to be packaged in an understandable manner Just rattling down a list of points is

exhausting for the audience not educating because if you speech has too much

information, your audience cannot absorb and understand Then most of your content will form puddles on the surface of their brains and will be forgotten within a few seconds

In a preparation, you must first know what you have to say It means that you fully and accurately know all the necessary information related to the issue that you want to mention You can‘t talk about the ―Greenhouse Effect‖ when you do not know anything about it Even if you know about it, you do not know more than others, do not talk about it The audience doesn‘t want to waste the time listening to what they have already known We can‘t talk to farmers about the operation of nuclear power company Not only do they not understand but also they feel no need to hear them For everything you do, the careful preparation is never redundant

Time is also one of the essential public speaking skills you need to master Most people ignore time or cannot control it Imaging that you are giving a presentation, your time is expired, but there are still many problems unsolved You have not even finished your speech You have a speech that is too long and it makes everyone feel sleepy and depressed Or when you focus too much time on a certain issue and there is not enough time to talk about other issues These are problems that you may encounter when you do not know how to control your time

The first thing you need focus on is: ―what are the important points I want my audience to understand.‖ You need to know how many minutes it will take to explain each point and ‗sell‘ it to your audience Each of these important points has to follow a clear, organized and understandable structure It takes me about 10 minutes to explain and drive home a point How much time do you need?

Of course, you can resolve this problem by practicing before you have a real speech By this way, you will know how to control your time consistent with the content of the speech

2.1.3.2 Voice

―Your audience judges you from the moment you stand up to speak If you are dressed well and are neat and clean, their initial impression of you will be positive However, if your voice is squeaky, your words unintelligible, or your voice too loud, their positive impression quickly will become negative If you want to communicate

effectively and positively influence your audience, you must pay special attention to

your speaking voice‖ (Cheryl Marais, Your speaking voice, p.4, 2011) [4]

It is right that voice is one of the most important factors that determine your success when speaking in public That is the means by which you transmit information and message to listeners Many people who are fortunate to own beautiful voice and ingenious way of talking, their stories go to the heart easier and become more convincing

Controlling voice is very important, too You can‘t talk continuously without a break This not only makes you tired quickly but also makes the listener feel tired You should know to stop and have rest time Or if you keep your voice in the same during all your speech, the audience will feel nothing important to remember, too By raising

or lowering volume occasionally, you can create emphasis This is also called intonation

Not all great speakers are born with great voices, but they learned to improve their voices by vocal exercises and constant practice So, follow what they are doing, rehearse often and exercise your vocal chords to make your voice come out loud and clear, then learn how to modulate to make it pleasing to your audience‘s ears

2.1.3.3 Body Language

No one can deny the importance of body language to public speaking Many experts spend a lot of time studying about the body language and the subject of reading body language is also created You can find more detailed information about body language in this study

2.1.3.4 Attitude

Have you ever thought that you can‘t have enough ability to do something? If

the answer is yes, please stop thinking like that because: ―You have powers you never

dream of You can do things you never though you could do There are no limitations

in what you can do expect the limitation of your mind‖ - Darwin P Kingsley (Darwin

P Kingsley quotes)

A survey done by David Wallechinsky, Irving Wallace, and Amy Wallace (1977) with 300 people has showed an interesting secret about the fear of human And here is result:

Rank Fear Percentage (%)

Table 1: The Rank of the Fear

It is so amazing that the fear of public speaking becomes the biggest fear of human while the fear of death is only ranked 7th We can see, there are many people who face problem with public speaking So, what is the reason?

Lack of confidence is probably the biggest reason for the fear of public speaking If you are lack of confidence, you will become very embarrassed in front of other people When problems occur you will not be able to resolve them quickly and become passive Even you sometimes can‘t remember what you are going to say and

to do

Dr Ho Thanh Sy Phuong (Kĩ năng thuyết trình trước đám đông, p.5, 2007) [5]

has divided people into 4 types as follows:

- Evading people: who always avoid appearing in public and presenting

- Passive people: who don‘t avoid speaking in public but not keen on doing it They always have felling of reluctance

- Accepted people: who sometimes think that they do very well They sometimes like presenting, sometimes not

- Opportunity seekers: who always find the chance to speak in public They are interested in public speaking and confident

So, if you are not ready and always avoid speaking, you won‘t have opportunity

to practice yourself and improve your speaking skill

Many people also say that they have many fears when presenting, such as fear

of the audience, fear of failure, fear of your speech becomes a bad speech They afraid

of being rejected by their audience, being criticized by the crowd for how they look or how they deliver their speech Once you have delivered your topic, ask for their feedback Don't be afraid to hear about what they will say Their feedback can give you an insight into what is good or bad in your speech

2.1.3.5 Listening Skill

There is a story that a little boy asked God why humans had two ears but only one mouth God smiled and answered because people had to learn to listen more than talk

Is it more important to be a good listener or a good speaker? This may surprise you, but being a good speaker starts with being a good listener You should not only be a good listener during your speech but also before and after it Listening to know what is going on the minute you walk in the room Try to get acquainted with the audience because they don‘t care how much you know, until they know how much you care about them

It sounds impossible for a speaker to listen to an audience during their speech but it will help you know their responses of them and control your speech For example, if your audience feels so bored or starts to discuss about other problems irrelevant to your subject, it means that your speech does not attract them and you should change your subject or change the atmosphere by telling a humorous story as well If the audience concentrates on your speech and raises some questions or ideas, it means that they are interested in your speech

It is also very important to listen to audience‘s comments and feedbacks after your speech You can know how your speech is and draw some lessons as well as improve your speech for the next time

2.2 Body Language

2.2.1 Definition

Have you ever visited a fortune-teller? Or have you ever wondered why fortune-tellers know so much even though they have never met you before Maybe they have a special ability but a research on fortune-teller businesses shows that operators use a technique known as ―cold read‖ which can produce an accuracy around

of 80% when ―reading‖ a person you‘ve never met While it can appear to be magical

to nạve and vulnerable people, it is simply a process based on the careful observation

of body language signals plus an understanding of human nature and a knowledge of

probability statistics Allan (The definitive book of body language,2004) states: ―It s a

technique practiced by psychics tarot card readers astrologists and palm readers

together information about a 'client' Many 'cold readers' are largely unaware o their abilities to read non verbal signals and so also become convinced that they really must

have 'psychic' abilities.‖

So, what is body language?

Joe Navarro with Marvin Karlins in their book What everybody is saying (p.16,

2008) stated that body language ―is a means of transmitting information—just like the spoken word—except it is achieved through facial expressions, gestures, touching, physical movements (kinesics), posture, body adornment (clothes, jewelry, hairstyle, tattoos, etc.), and even the tone, timbre, and volume of an individual‘s voice (rather than spoken content).‖[1]

- Dr Nicholas Epley, quoted by John Tierney in The New York Times

(March 23, 2014)

So we can see that body language is the way we use the movement of the body including: facial expression, eye-contact, hand gestures, etc to transmit information, thoughts and feelings instead of words While body language and words have a conflict, we often believe in body language For example, you say that: ―I am so happy now‖, but you bow and shake your head No one believes you You are just showing that you are not alright

2.2.2 The Role of Body Language

Chart 1: Body Language’s Role

Research shows that it takes 4 minutes to make a first impression

According to studies by UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian (1970), body language accounts for 55% of a first impression; 38% comes from tone of voice; 7% comes from our actual words

Non-verbal cues are important when communicating feelings and attitudes Allan Pease known as one of the most famous body language expert with many books sold and translated into many languages around the world, visited Vietnam in

2013 and did a very surprising thing He evaluated the personality of four judges in The Voice Viet program Viet Nam Allan watched the video of 4 judges and turned the sound off He gave accurate and interesting comments even though he has not met them once before By sitting straight and loosing open hands Hong Nhung reveals that

it was the words from her heart and her true feelings According to Allan, this also means that she does not want to hurt anyone For My Linh, Allan finds that she used her right hand more than the left hand He insisted she use more right brain than left brain For the left brain is the logical thinking, so the comments of Hong Nhung are reasonable and logic rather than emotion expressed in body language obsevered by 4 judges, he can know the personality of the other people

Especially, when observing body language of others, we will know the response and attitude of the audience and know what to do next with our speech We all know that what we say does not mean what we think Through body language of others we will know that they are lying or not Imagine this situation Your friend has just finished her exams You met her and asked: Is your exam OK? She answers:‖ It okay‖ However, she smiled wryly and moved her hand around the book She is lying Did your friend really do OK in her test? Probably not, but she doesn‘t want to tell about the true feeling right now You see, when your verbal and non-verbal communication

is incongruent, people will believe the non-verbal And of course, you can know a person is telling lie or not

People usually remember more of what they see than what you hear Long after

a meeting, we are likely to have forgotten the exact words someone used, but we retain the images of the same person‘s facial expression So, if you want to leave the impression on others, take advantage of your body language

Understanding the body language of others is very important But if you can use your body language and apply it in your communication process, the presentation will certainly be persuasive and more energetic Body language helps you send much more messages to the audience

2.2.3 Main Components of Body Language

Darwin in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in

1871, in which he wrote: ―The young and the old of widely different races, both with man and animals, express the same state of mind by the same movements.‖ [2]

So, through facial expression, you can guess what your audience is felling thus having a reasonable control If their face shows that they are bored, you‘d better change your topic or do something that can make them focus on your speech One

more thing is that no one wants to see or listen to a person with an uncomfortable face You should be friendly and humorous as much as possible

2.2.3.2 Smile

The most important non-verbal behavior is smiling It is critical that you smile while having conversations with company representatives Many studies have confirmed the value of smiling (Yes, there really are smile researchers.) Smiling reduces tension, it helps people reach agreement, and it increases attraction

One study showed that smiling promotes trust among strangers One of the authors, Rick Wilson (2012), in an interview said,

co-"People who have friendly expressions are rated better or perceived to be nicer." Smile is a symbol of joy and happiness However, you will certainly be surprised because it carries more meaning than you thought Have you ever smiled when sad and ashamed? The answer is certainly yes It must be a fake smile So, how

to read the meaning of the other person‘s smile?

-The Genuine Smile:

A genuine smile involves the whole face including the eye More than just the mouth, many facial muscles are in action The most visible is the tightening around the eyes This action around the eyes is extremely difficult to fake and is the main signal you want to look at if you think somebody might not be telling you their real feelings

- The Forced Smile:

This type of smile used out of politeness People who put on a smile only use the muscles around the mouth But the top half of their face remains virtually unchanged Their smile is also less likely to be showing their teeth This smile could mean the person is not telling the whole truth

Now, look at two images above, you certainly distinguish where real smile is and where forced smile is Moreover, you know about an inviting smile, a shy smile and a naughty smile How to have a real smile? A simply advice is that you think about a wonderful time Or recall a recent situation when you really had a great

connection with someone you had just met This will recall the feelings you had at the time and will naturally make you smile

2.2.3.3 Eye-contact

We all know our eyes are known as the ―windows to the soul‖ Eye-contact in public speaking plays an important role It is not only the connection between the speaker and the audience, but also has many meanings Eyes don‘t know how to tell lie

so you can also know other real feelings when looking into their eyes

According to Fred E Miller (presents Eyes are ―The window to the soul‖, 2009) ―The first thing to do, after taking the lectern, and before beginning your talk, is

to find a friendly face and make eye contact.‖ Because ―Eye contact does a number of important things It indicates honesty (I‘ll bet you remember a parent telling you to,

―Look me in the eye and tell me what happened!‖) It creates a bond with the people you are speaking to Of course you can‘t look everyone in the eye, but those around the person you are directly speaking to will feel the same bonding.‖ But how we understand about eye-contact? These things may help you understand more and use eye-contact effectively:

Looking up: When a person looks upwards they are often thinking In

particular they are probably making pictures in their head and thus may well be an indicator of a visual thinker

When they are delivering a speech or presentation, looking up may be their recalling their prepared words

Looking up may also be a signal of boredom as the person examines the surroundings in search of something more interesting

Looking down: Looking at a person can be an act of power and domination

Looking down involves not looking at the other person, which hence may be a sign of submission ('I am not a threat, really; please do not hurt me You are so glorious I would be dazzled if I looked at you.')

Looking down can thus be a signal of submission It can also indicate that the person is feeling guilty

However, many cultures where eye contact is a rude or dominant signal, people will look down when talking with others in order to show respect

Looking sideways: When a person looks sideways, they are either looking away

from what is in front of them or looking towards something that has taken their interest Looking to the left can indicate a person recalling a sound Looking to the right can indicate that they are imagining the sound As with visual and other movements, this can

be reversed and may need checking against known truth and fabrication

Glancing: Glancing at something can betray a desire for that thing, for example

glancing at the door can indicate a desire to leave

Glancing at a person can indicate a desire to talk with them It can also indicate

a concern for that person's feeling when something is said that might upset them

Glancing may indicate a desire to gaze at something or someone where it is forbidden to look for a prolonged period

Glancing sideways at a person with raised eyebrows can be a sign of attraction Without the raised eyebrow it is more likely to be disapproval

Eye-contact has a great power and can tell you many things more than words Use it effectively and you‗ll have a successful speech

So by gesturing you not only unfreeze your body but also unfreeze your mind Furthermore, gesturing conveys enthusiasm and energy to your audience Surveys of what people like and dislike about presentations consistently report that people use hand gestures to show passion and enthusiasm

Last but not least, when the audience sees you gesturing they will think that you look confident That‘s because nervous speakers are often frozen and stiff Not only that but you may also fool your mind into thinking you are confident You‘ll realize that you‘re speaking in a confident, conversational manner and start to feel that way too

However, gestures are ambiguous, fluid, and multi-determined So focusing on

a particular gesture and insisting that it has a specific, singular meaning will get you into trouble That hand on the chin may mean you‘re thinking, or it may mean you‘re tired and resting your head in your hands So, understand them clearly and avoid making your audience misunderstand your idea Here are some advices when using hand gestures in public speaking:

Avoid using hand gesture which has rude meaning such as: the dog call, pointing fingers, idiota These actions will make the audience has bad impression in you

Avoid holding your notes in your hands: You are nervous and don‘t believe in your memory

Avoid doing nothing with your hands: You like a mobile ice!

Do not copy from other people, the best gestures are unique to you Be natural like you are talking with your best friends and your relative, you will fell easily to express your felling through hand gestures

2.2.3.5 Appearance

Certainly, what you say is more important than what people see Your appearance, however, is an important aspect of your presentation skills; you want to encourage the audience to listen to what you have to say Your presentation begins the moment someone recognizes you as the speaker This might be in the elevator, the restroom, or even in the parking garage As soon as you are in close proximity to your speaking location, act as though you are on stage—because you may be Finish your preparation before you leave your car Avoid writing down notes at the table before you speak People might get the impression that you did not carefully prepare

Check yourself in the mirror of the restroom before you enter the meeting room

to make sure that everything about your appearance is in place

Your hair:

Regardless of your hairstyle, all hair should be clean and brushed/combed in the back as well as the front Many people forget to check the BACK of their heads So while they look great entering a room, they end up looking terrible when leaving

I have a friend with long blond hair However, her hair isn‘t very beautiful because she used so many chemicals before I have felling that her hair seems not suitable with her face One day, I and another friend said to her: ―Hey girl! We think that you‘d better tie your hair ― She answered: ―For whatever I did, if I feel it is Ok, it will make me more confident.‖ So, you can do anything with your appearance as long

as you feel comfortable and your audience doesn‘t fell unpleasant

Your clothes:

Your message is always the most important part of a public speech; however, everything else about your speech will affect how your audience perceives you & your message Your voice, your gestures, your grammar, your movements, your mannerisms, your clothes, and your style all create the impression you leave on the audience & how much of your message they hear and remember Many public speaker feel so confused when choosing suitable clothes for their presentation So, what to wear in public speaking?

Nick Morgan in a speech of Why Speakers need to worry about their Audiences’

Stress Level (2013) a famous speaker gives us some advice One of them is: Always dress

as well as or slightly better than the audience He says: ―If you show up at a Silicon Valley

start up dressed like a banker in the full regalia, suit, tie, and etc, you will be written off by that audience as a hopeless case The chance that you will connect with them becomes vanishingly small So you want to dress as well as the audience, or slightly better, but the emphasis is on slightly You don‘t want a big mismatch If you dress worse than the audience, of course, you‘ll simply look like you shouldn‘t be there.‖

You should look the best in your presentation because it is an important occasion The audience will remember not only your word but also you appearance However, you should wear suitable clothes that make you feel comfortable, too A speaker needs to be able to move on stage, and some fashions restrict movement so severely that you‘ll look ridiculous when you try to walk That won‘t work You have

to be able to get on and off - and around - the stage

Your style will reflect who you are Avoid wearing something like: hat, short dress, short skirt, hoodies, sweat pants, tank top, Shirts containing any logos or phrases that contain potentially offensive words or anything to do with drugs/alcohol You certainly don‘t want to cause an argument related to what printed on your shirt

Finally, when you are introduced, walk to the lectern with erect posture, quick steps, and a smile on your face Before you actually speak, look at the audience to make eye contact with several people, and then begin

2.2.3.6 Spatial Factor

There are several benefits to make movement in a presentation:

Firstly, it makes your presentation more interesting and your image more attendent Secondly, the more movement you make, the more confident you look as those who are inconfident or not confident enough are generally frozen in one spot

But, which is the most suitable distance between the speaker and the audience? According to a survey, there are four distinct zones in which most people operate:

Intimate area: 15-50 cm

Personal area: 0.5-1m

Social area: 1-3m

General area: 3m