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First-Class Key-Note Speaker’s Core Technique: On-Stage Body Language Skills

This presentation tip is in the category:  First-Class Key-Note Speaker Know-How Series

Why do so many people’s on-stage body languages look so weird? On the other hand, why do actors or first-class speakers look so natural on stage? The answers for these two questions are very simple. The right on-stage body languages are not human being’s natural way of moving. It is a totally different game when you are on stage when compared to when you are speaking to a friend. When you are on stage, you have the sole responsibility to speak, educate and also somehow entertain the crowd. This is not an easy task. I would like to outline some of the areas to watch out for in terms of on-stage body language:

Smile

Smiling seems to be an easy thing to do but it is not. I guarantee many of you will lose your simile when you feel nervous. Keep up with your simile when presenting, this action will help you to look more confident. Furthermore, smiling would help you relax and stay calm.

Eye contact

Keep eye contact with your audience is another task that seems to be easy but actually not. The first thing you should do is to divide up the crowd into six sections as shown below:

4

5

6

1

2

3

Stage

Try to find an audience that is committed and willing to respond from each section. You will appear to be speaking with everyone in the room.

Hands & body

One thing to remember is that this is a stage. You are allowed to make bigger movements because you are actually very far from your audience. On the other hand, try to make smaller movement if you are not speaking at a big event.

Of course, you should not move your hands so fast that they become distracting. Treat your body language as a channel that will aid you to add values to your presentation.

Walk around the stage

You will be able to better cover all your audience if you can manage to walk around. Let me divide up a stage into nine sections:

7

8

9

4

5

6

1

2

3

Audience

Try to always stay in section one, two, three and five. Strategically plan when to move around. You should always go back to section five and treat that as a core spot. By the way, try not to step backward when presenting. You would look less confident as you do that.

The best practice is to do the trial run over and over again. Pretend you are on the stage. If you can, try to present in front of your friends and family members who are willing to give constructive feedback. Videotaping your trial run also helps you spot your own weaknesses as well. These preparations might be time-consuming. However, I am sure you will see huge improvements in your on-stage body-language skills if you are willing to invest the time to do these preparations.