Many people who give speeches don’t realize the importance of body language and nonverbal communication. The truth is that people will see you before they hear you speak, and how they see you influence how they hear you.

Posture
A speaker’s posture gives the audience a good idea of his state of mind. Slouching and slumping makes you seem weak and ineffectual, and will cause the audience to lose interest in what you have to say. Conversely, standing tall will catch people’s attention and give them the impression that you know what you’re talking about.

When facing an audience, remember to stand with your back straight and your chest out. The easy way to do this is to pull your stomach in. This will automatically push your chest out and pull your shoulders back.

Your stance is also an important part of posture. The key is to stay balanced and relaxed at all times. Ideally you should stand with your feet apart, at about the length of your shoulders. For added balance, you may also stand with one foot slightly forward. Do not stand with your feet too wide apart or too close together. This will weaken your balance and make you thoroughly uncomfortable.

Eye contact
Looking your audience in the eye is essential for making effective presentations. Eye contact helps bring about a connection to your audience and makes it difficult for them to focus on anything else but you. Eye contact connotes confidence, sincerity and openness, while the lack of it connotes fear, guilt, and dishonesty.

Hand Gestures
Gesturing with your hands can be a useful emphatic tool, provided it’s done right. You can occasionally gesture with your hands in order to underscore a point or direct your audience’s attention towards something interesting. The operative word here is occasionally. You are not conducting an orchestra. Gesturing too much can distract the audience from what you’re trying to say, and may even make you look nervous.
If you are not sure what to do with your hands, it’s perfectly alright not to gesture at all. You may keep your hands at your sides, on the podium, or holding a microphone. Instead of gesturing, you can underscore your points by effective pauses, facial expressions, or a change in speaking tone or inflection.

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