Improve Your Communication Skills, 2nd Edition

131 Making a Presentation
Keep your cue cards in your hand so that you can easily 
glance down at them and bring your eyes back to the audience 
quickly. 
Your face 
The rest of your face is important, too! Remember to smile. 
Animate your face and remember to make everything just a little 
larger than life so that your face can be ‘read’ at the back of the 
room. 
Gestures 
Many presenters worry about how much or little they gesture. 
This is reasonable. Arms and hands are prominent parts of the 
body and can sometimes get out of control. 
The important thing is to find the gestures that are natural for 
you. If you are a great gesticulator, don’t try to force your hands 
into rigid stillness. If you don’t normally gesture a great deal, 
don’t force yourself into balletic movements. Use your hands to 
paint pictures and to help you get the words out. Keep your 
gestures open, away from your body and into the room. Don’t 
cross your hands behind your back or in front of your crotch, and 
don’t put them in your pockets too much. (It’s a good idea to 
empty your pockets before the presentation so that you don’t find 
yourself jingling coins or keys.) 
Movement 
Aim for stillness. This doesn’t mean that you should stand 
completely still all the time. Moving about the room shows that 
you are making the space your own, and helps to energise the 
space between you and the audience. But rhythmic, repetitive 
movement can be annoying and suggest the neurotic pacing of a 
panther in a cage. Try not to rock on your feet or tie your legs in 
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.

---

132 Improve your Communication Skills
knots! Aim to have both feet on the ground as much as possible 
and slow down your movements. 
It can sometimes help to sit to present. You might practise 
with a chair, or the back of a chair, a stool or even the edge of a 
table. Make sure that it is stable and solid enough to bear your 
weight!