Body language when presenting - what you need to know

TL;DR: Only worry about your own.

He was a hulk-like figure in the third row of the audience with a head like an Easter Island Statue. I was a few minutes in to a twenty-minute set, which the audience of around 100 people seemed to be enjoying. Apart from this guy. Arms folded. Head down. Face like a crashed boat. Gradually he seemed to loom larger and the rest of the audience receded until I was left with tunnel vision. And a monster at the end of the tunnel.

What had I done wrong? Crap jokes? Sure, but everyone else seemed OK with that. Had I said anything offensive? I didn’t think so, but that didn’t stop a mild panic setting in. Had I accidentally slagged off his mum? I decided to tackle the problem head on and lightly take the mickey out of him. Nothing, not even a grunt. I moved on to the woman he was with. She was lovely, but didn’t seem to know what was wrong with him either. Eventually I sucked it up and moved on - after wasting 5 minutes and 70% of the audience’s good will.

He found me at the bar after my set. “I really enjoyed that, thanks”, he said. I eyed him for undercurrents of sarcasm and checked his hands for weapons. He seemed to be telling the truth. “You could have let that register on your face”, I replied. “Nah mate, I’m military. It’s all combat to me. I was having a great time.”

That’s when I realised worrying too much about the body language of your audience is a fool’s game. Just worry about your own.

The power of non-verbal communication.

There’s no denying body language is important in how your message is received by your audience. I mean, you can deny it if you like but you’d be wrong. The famous stat is that 93% of communication is non-verbal, but that’s probably wrong too. Communicating is a complex, nuanced issue. Your words, actions and subconscious signals combine to either muddle your message or make you sound convincing. So how do you get them to mesh in a way that works for you?

Mastering your body language

Most good public speakers have great body language hygiene. Weird choice of words but I’m sticking with it. They’ll be upright, shoulders back, using their full height, centred in their weight, relaxed and open, with calm hand gestures and friendly eye contact. You know all this. So what are some more subtle ways to use all the physical tools at your disposal when presenting?

Well before you even get started, you may want to limber up a bit so you’re loose and relaxed. I’m not explicitly condoning shadowboxing and yoga in the toilet beforehand, but I’m also not criticising if you do - if it works for you it works! In a similar vein, a bit of reading out loud (poem, short story, rap lyrics, bus timetable) can loosen up your mouth and tongue, which was a horrible sentence to type.
Now you’re up. Firstly - stand up. Although it’s tempting to stay seated if you’re pitching or presenting in a smaller space, you’re reducing the tools you can use to be an effective communicator by a ratio of... about two legs. Not only does standing up literally let you look down on your audience, it allows you to move around to make points. A classic trick of “Ted Talkers” is to make three points and move to a different part of the stage when they make each one, embedding each point in a different physical space in their audiences’ minds.

Secondly - be aware of your weight. I’m not talking about declining the meeting room croissants; I mean think about where your weight is when you stand. Nervous people tend to shift their weight from foot to foot, which is a great way to make your audience seasick. Try and keep your weight evenly balanced between your feet. Also think about shifting your weight forward and back - leaning into or away from the audience at key points. Counterintuitively, leaning away from your audience when you think you’re losing their attention can get them to lean forward and take up the “space” you’ve created in the room.

Sometimes you’ll be seated. Maybe you don’t have enough space to stand, or you’re part of a panel discussion or round table. Still, the principle of being open, relaxed and as upright as possible applies. If you’re seated a sense of stillness is your ally - smaller movement are amplified as they isolated, so try to use your body language to make your key points land.

Body language for video calls

“Well that’s all fine” I hear your internal monologue sighing “but what about these relentless Teams calls?”

It’s a good question. Sometimes we feel under even more scrutiny when we’re “cameras on” and know that when everyone’s finished scanning our bookshelves for 50 Shades of Grey, they’ll turn their attention to examining our pores. It’s tough, no denying. If you’re really serious you can look into the Alexander Technique to unlearn bad habits and develop new ways of holding and using your body.

An uncomfortable truth about being engaging on a video call is… well, you’re going to have to act. A bit. Sorry. Directing your eyes at your webcam is the first step - to mimic natural eye contact as much as possible, You’ll have to project a bit more and dial your gestures up a bit for the webcam to convey you well. It can feel stupid and like you’re shouting into the void (especially if your audience is cameras off) but this is 2023 and this is the world you wished for. So best crack on.

Avoiding classic body language mistakes

Admittedly body language and your level of nerves are closely related. The calmer you are the more you’ll be able to control your movements. We cover nerves off in another blog here. Assuming they’re under control, just be aware of making classic mistakes; namely flappy or uncontrolled hands (I once received presentation training from a coach who wore 15+ gold bracelets which jangled like a chorus of crows whenever she moved her arm), slouching, nervous shifting (yes, shifting) and avoiding eye contact with your audience. Don’t do these things. These things bad.

Body language for presenting; summary

Well you made it this far. Time for some bad news. The best thing you can do to improve your body language is to video yourself presenting and watch the video back. You’ll notice every habit you have, good or bad. Then you can dial up the good ones and bin the bad ones. It sucks, because no-one likes watching themselves back. But it’s by far the most effective way to improve. Sorry.

Other than that - don’t worry about the body language of your audience. They’re probably fine, or wondering what’s for tea. Just worry about your own.

And let me know if you could do with a (non-shakey) hand.