Rarely did individuals know that gesture give a huge impact in a conversation. Most of us usually only pay attention to the voice tone when we talk about important things. As an example, you probably often speak in a high tone when you deliver a crucial point or speak in average tone when talking about your report to your manager. However, you probably need to learn how to use gestures such as counting or stop hand gesture, especially when talking about a project with significant clients because it can help you emphasise your words better.
A professor of psychology and neuroscience at Colgate University, Spencer Kelly found that less might actually be more when it comes to gestures and actions in terms of understanding language. Gesture can make individuals pay attention to the acoustics of speech. They are not merely add-ons to language, Kelly said, they might actually be a fundamental part of it.
See also: Simple Gestures Towards Employees Yields Big Rewards
Hand gestures can help you emphasise your words better. A study published in Springer revealed that most of the time, as much as 60 percent of information can be delivered and can retain better when gestures play with your speech. Specifically, when you do gesture and speech while doing a face-to-face meeting, your information can influence the receiver better for more than 70 percent of the time. Thus, if you don’t want to get rejected, you should do “the right” gestures to deliver your speech.
Let’s learn from some impressive leaders like Gary Vaynerchuk. If you pay attention closely to his speech, you would recognise that he uses hand gestures well. Vaynerchuk likes to emphasise his words with hand gestures such as karate chop, counting, and open arms. There are other influencers like Ariana Huffington, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brian Branson, or Tim Ferriss who also emphasising meaning with hand gesture when giving a speech to the audience.
Hence, if you want to influence people better – your clients better – learning how and what right gesture to use is important. Without further ado, here are 10 simple hand gestures that can convince your clients and convert them from prospective to actual clients.
Note: All images are randomly taken from Google Images
A very universal yet eloquent gesture is counting gesture with your fingers. There are also gestures to emphasise size and place. Using your fingers to visualise your words helps people follow along with what you’re trying to say. This gestures also add warmth to your body language and serves as a nonverbal anchor in conversation.
Open arms gesture indicates a receptive, friendly, and honest attitude. This is really useful to welcome your clients when you first meet them to gain trust and show loyalty. In a book by Westside Toastmasters, open arm gesture will draw people to you, making them feel comfortable and at ease in your company. Additionally, it is also a useful gesture to persuade someone to your viewpoint.
You should use steeple gesture when you want to be seen as a wiser and more powerful person in your conversation. The gesture, however, can be very tricky too. PsychMechanics explained that steeple gesture can be very useful in a debate, discussion, and negotiation as it gives indications that you have strong proofs to back up the discussion. At the same time, it might give an image of feeling less confident or having a lot of doubts in mind. So, when doing this gesture, you need to synchronise it with your words.
This gesture has the thumb leaning against the thumb-side portion of your index finger, which is part of a closed fist or slightly projecting from the fist. It is commonly used by politicians to provide emphasis in speeches. You can adopt this gesture to do the same to your clients. In addition, Clinton thumb gesture does not exhibit anger of clenched fist or pointing fingers. It shows the importance of your words and is thought to be less threatening, instead.
Do it like the winner of the champion did! Fist pump gesture communicates success. It emphasises strength, encouragement, and intensity.
When you want to tell clients that it is important yet a bit euphemism or sarcastic, you can use this gesture. You can also tell jokes that will melt the situation in your meeting by doing air quote gesture.
To emphasise the strongest point in your speech, you can give a karate chop gesture. It is usually done by a slanting stroke with the side of your hand.
If you are being sincere with what you say, put your hand close to your heart. It is a universal gesture, indicating that you are really honest with your conversation and that you show respect to your clients.
Stop gesture is an instant attention-grabber gesture. You can use it when your client feels doubt about their decision. Then you can say stop (with this gesture) and emphasise what you want to convey again. But remember, don’t be too strong or aggressive when doing this gesture.
Instead of pointing your fingers at the client which is a bit “aggressive”, you can do it with an open hand or palm while referring to the listener. It is very useful to get into your client’s personal space/area. This gesture also highlights that something you are talking about applies to the person you are speaking with.
Read also: Meeting Etiquette across Asian Countries You Should Know
