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Have you ever seen a presenter on stage, telling a story… and something just didn’t feel right? The presenter seems sincere — they just don’t seem authentic? Have you ever been that presenter?

Last week, I was presenting in Los Angeles, and a well-meaning attendee asked me about “gestures.” AUGH! I freaked! (If you’ve seen me live, you have the visual!)

I love Toastmasters, and think it’s an amazing place to make mistakes. I’m still a paid member and go to my club meetings when I’m in town. This enables me to work on new material or get inspired by fellow members who are facing their fears. In fact, I think every professional — unless they have a full calendar at the fee they want — should be working on improving their skills. Our best marketing is how good we are on stage. That’s why I still take workshops.

There’s one particular piece of feedback that I see others recommend way too often, and although it’s well-intended, it’s very unhelpful. Can you guess what it is?

“You need more / bigger gestures.”

NO!  Never do another gesture again!

People tell me I have great gestures. I don’t do gestures. Doing a “gesture” implies that it’s rehearsed and should come in at a certain point in the speech. “When you say ____________, you should _____________ with your hands!”

I don’t do “gestures.” I just am very expressive on stage. I re-LIVE my stories, I don’t re-TELL them. I’ve probably given the story of my first time on stage at Stitches more than a thousand times.

When I give it, I just relive it.

If you’ve been to a few of my presentations, you’ll notice that my stories always vary slightly. Why? Because I have a different connection each time. It’s a different audience, and I’m in a different mood or emotion that night. It’s the same story, but I’m real and in-the-moment for that audience. I remember hearing that Bruce Springsteen didn’t reveal to his band what songs they would play each night, and in what order. They wouldn’t know until he started playing the next one on stage. He did this to ensure they would all be “in-the-moment.”

When I’m delivering a story and I become a character, I don’t do gestures as a character. I simply express the emotion of the character. I think about the character’s emotion and just express it they way they would. Does that make sense?

We do a powerful exercise in the Get More Laughs program that helps presenters see and feel this. It’s very simple to do. My goal as a presenter is to communicate the emotion of the character to the audience to help tell the story and bring the audience into the scene. If I’m telling the story and I have to communicate that the character is scared, I must authentically communicate “scared.” If I think of the emotion and become that character, and just allow myself to express it, it works. If you did the same character, and expressed same emotion, it would look different than when I did it.

It doesn’t matter how the gesture “looks.” It matters that you’re authentically communicating the emotion of the character in order to tell the story. If you’re just doing “gestures” without the authentic emotion behind it, you will come across as insincere. If you’re “thinking” about what gesture to do, you’re in your head and the gesture, too, will look insincere.

Here’s a video example:

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There are many powerful speakers who don’t do gestures. There are many horrible speakers who do lots of gestures. It’s not about the gestures. It is about authentic communication between you and your audience.

No worries, it is only your reputation… and perception.

Stage time,

Darren LaCroix
2001 World Champion of Public Speaking

P.S. Want to join me for the LIVE LAUNCH-inar (Launch Party & Seminar) in Las Vegas on September 30th? Click here to RSVP and we’ll send you the details as soon as the event has been finalized!