5 Hand Gestures to Communicate Effectively

Our hands are an effective tool when it comes to communication. Sign language is a clear example of the vital role hands play in communicating. Before we even get the chance to speak, our hands convey our trustworthiness to others. From an evolutionary perspective, researchers believe we scan other individuals’ hands to assess whether they are friend or foe. If you are greeted by someone and their hands are in their pockets or behind their back, you naturally become suspicious. This is precisely the reason why the first thing police do when they approach a possible suspect is they ask to put their hands up in order to minimize the threat level. The feeling of unease with hidden hands is present in other situations as well, even “jurors find defendants who put their hands under the table more sneaky or mistrustful.”¹ In order to make a good first impression when you are greeting someone or speaking in front of a group, be aware of your hands and have them in clear sight with your palms showing to convey trustworthiness.  

In regard to communication, the words we choose and the way we deliver those words matter. Delivery is typically regarded in terms of the tone of our voice including our use of inflections. Effective delivery also depends on nonverbal behaviour, of which hand gestures play a key role as they can emphasize and accentuate what we say to improve how our listener comprehends our message.

Author and body language expert Vanessa Van Edwards and her research team studied TED Talks to find out why certain presentations had more views than others on similar topics. They wanted to find out what it was about communicators who were more entertaining in their ability to get their point across. What they found was that the speakers of TED Talks with higher views engaged in roughly double the amount of hand gestures than their less popular counterparts. The speakers in TED Talks with the least views (averaging 124,000) only used 272 hand gestures on average, whereas the speakers in TED Talks with the highest views (averaging 7.4 million) used 465 hand gestures on average.² The most viral TED Talks including “Simon Sinek, and Jane McGonigal topped the hand gesture charts with over 600 gestures in just eighteen minutes.”²

If you want to effectively communicate your message and ensure people listen intently, then learn from viral TED Talk speakers and use more hand gestures. Hand gestures keep your listener engaged as your communication is more entertaining. They have the ability to draw listeners in. There are five specific hand gestures that can be used to accentuate everyday communication to improve how you are getting your message across and to improve your listeners engagement and comprehension. 

1. Show Numbers

If you are communicating numbers between 1 and 10, make it easier for your listener to follow along by displaying that number with your hands. According to Vanessa Van Edwards, “any time you mention a number, you should always show that number.” She explains that the reason showing numbers is effective is because “hand gestures underline or bold your words.” 

2. Describe an Increase or Decrease

If you are describing change or fluctuation, it is also effective to show whether something is increasing or decreasing. Van Edwards explains, “if you’re talking about a really big growth, you can actually show that growth”, you can signal an exponentially increasing line as you discuss the growth. In contrast, if you want to accentuate a decrease or even something that has shrunk you can use your hands to display that too. Similarly, if discussing a small problem, you can use an indifferent tone to your voice in addition to making a pinching gesture with your thumb and index finger. You can even expand or contract your shoulders to really paint the picture. 

3. Express an Emotionally Charged Topic

In order to get your point across during a crucial conversation, amplify how you feel about the topic by gesturing to your heart. Van Edwards says that “if you are talking about something emotional, the easiest way to do this is to actually gesture anywhere in your heart region.” Maintaining locked eyes, gesturing in the general area of your heart and saying “this is so important to me” will hook the listener in. 

4. Display Two Differentiating Ideas

In addition, if you are speaking about two things or ideas and going back and forth between the two, it is easy for your listener to get lost and misunderstand which idea you may be referring to. Using your hands allows you to keep them focused and reel them in to what you’re saying. As Van Edwards points out, “you can use your hands to help people keep track of the concept you’re talking about.” You can engage your listener by differentiating between both concepts with your right and left hand. Keep the messaging consistent, right hand for coffee, left hand for tea, as to not confuse the listener. 

5. Convey Cohesiveness

If your intention is to instill comradery or cohesiveness between individuals or a team you can use your hands to show bringing two things together. Hold your hands apart as if you were holding an invisible ball (palms facing each other) and bring them together by interlocking your fingers. As an added effect, you can even widen your arms further if you are speaking to a group. 

If you’ve ever listened to a monotone speaker, slouched back with their hands in their pockets, you’d understand why students fall asleep in lectures. Don’t be like a boring professor. In order to be more exciting, convey your message with your hands whether you’re communicating in front of groups or one-on-one. In addition to your tone of voice and inflections, leverage your hand gestures to be interesting, entertaining and to keep your listener engaged.     

1 Edwards, Vanessa Van. Human Lie Detection and Body Language 101: Your Guide to Reading People’s Nonverbal Behaviour. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013.  

2 Edwards, Vanessa Van. Captivate: the Science of Succeeding with People. Portfolio Penguin, 2018.