What should I do with my hands? (a question often asked by beginning students of acting and public speaking.

Answer 1

The use of an actor's hands can tell an audience a great deal about the character and the situation. So, it's helpful to learn about gesture, which is about using the hands to express feelings. The wringing of hands, the clenching of fists, putting your hands on your hips, even letting them hang loosely at your sides, or thrusting them into your pockets all tell the audience something about who you are as a character and what you are experiencing. The best advice again comes from Shakespeare as he reminds us, "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action."

Try this exercise with a memorized speech or monologue:

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ACTIVITY: NON-VERBAL ORAL INTERPRETATION

Take one of your memorized speeches and communicate it without speaking any words, using only gestures to get all the nuances therein. This is not a game of charades: You are to use gestures to express the complete feeling and meaning of words, not to pantomime syllables therein. Make the gestures as big and exaggerated as possible at first, using the entire body to communicate meaning and feeling.

After you have done that, speak the speech aloud, keeping the same sized gestures you just used but just adding the words this time. Gradually, with repetition, the gestures will dwindle down to those essential to effectively communicate the meaning. Your gestures will be natural, organic and communicative.

Answer 2

Hand gestures can be used to practice rhythm (and lines) during presentations or even during interviews. When practicing at home in front of a mirror (or video record yourself), a physical movement can help the speaker remember things like tempo, intonation, emphasis, lines, etc. If we practice this enough, muscle memory kicks in and the things we practiced can be automatically established in front of an audience when we tend to get nervous (or forget lines.)

Answer 3

Indeed Ron and Max are correct about the use of the body when acting. Giving a talk for TED or when teaching is a bit differnt. Too much movement can be distracting. Body language and gestures must accentuate the information being delivered and feeling comfortable doing this is of the utmost importance.

In addition, knowing how to warm up the body, the mind, and the voice is a must!

Answer 4

I like Ronn's idea, and I'm going to throw two others at you, so you have something to play with.

1. When I have directed younger actors, one thing that helps is finding another task to do in the speech. Maybe it's something related, or maybe some other chore your character might be doing while talking. Fold laundry, make a sandwich, re-lace and tie your shoes, shuffle a deck of cards, something like that. First of all, you'll stop worrying about what to do, since you have a very specific job to do with your hands, and second of all, you may find, as you rehearse, that the emotion of the speech starts to influence the way you do the task. Don't force it, but see if it happens. Maybe the speech starts to make you angry--so how do you make a sandwich when you're angry versus when you're calm? Try that out.
2. Exercise two is the counterpoint to Ronn's, and it's something some of the great actors have done as an exercise. Very loosely, tie your arms to your sides. Maybe with one loop of ribbon or if you have an old rag that's long enough. Now try doing the speech. If and when you break the bonds, that's probably a gesture you really need, so pay attention to when those moments are.

Have fun!