To captivate your audience, use your hands to bring your words to life. When you talk about something big, spread your arms wide; for something small, pinch your fingers together. Use open palms to appear welcoming and trustworthy. Point to yourself when sharing personal stories and gesture toward the audience when involving them. Avoid waving your hands too much, as it can be distracting - every movement should match what you're saying. Pausing your hands at key moments can also build suspense, making people curious about what’s next. With the right gestures, your message becomes more powerful and exciting to watch.

Hands are your secret super power on stage. When used right, they draw your audience in, make your message unforgettable, and add a natural rhythm to your words. But this power doesn’t happen by accident, it comes from practice. Every gesture should be intentional...pointing, open palms, even pauses that let your hands rest. With enough preparation, these movements become natural and deliberate, amplifying your impact without overshadowing your words. Think of your hands as extensions of your voice, conveying confidence, authenticity, and passion. With experience, you realize it’s not about overdoing it but about letting your hands speak as powerfully as your words.

When giving a speech, use your hands naturally to connect with your audience. Open palm gestures help build trust and show openness, making you appear more approachable. Avoid pointing, as it can seem aggressive. Instead, use your hands to emphasize key points, like spreading your arms to indicate a big idea or raising them slightly to show enthusiasm. Keep movements controlled and purposeful to add emphasis without distracting from your message.

A lot of the time, a speaker can have a brilliant presentation, their facial expressions are on point, but all their hard work is undone by an unconfident stance Work on maintaining a solid and unmoving stance by keeping your hands clasped together at belly button height, only moving purposely when needed. By this, I refer to acting out what you are saying, by utilising your palms up / palms down to show welcoming tone / authoritative tone for example, or pointing to certain people or prompts, and then always returning back to that central position This way, when you aren’t actively using your hands when speaking, the focus is entirely on the words out your mouth and not any nervous fidgeting

Hands are a beautiful part of our conversation, more so in Middle Eastern and South Asian communities (in my experience!) to emphasise certain points and to press others. It is a joy to watch people who talk with their hands because they richly add so much passion and energy to the points they're making. There is also a beautiful synergy between thought, word and action. Some people may find it awkward or indeed intimidating to let their personality and character show. But perhaps watch your favourite speakers and see how they underscore and emphasise point and importantly how YOU receive them. Some great examples (for me!) are Oprah, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Obama. Watch people like that, think about your talk and enjoy!