The Fascinating Science Behind ‘Talking’ With Your Hands

 "Talking" with your hands plays a huge role in conversation but I've never really understood what hand gestures mean or when to use what or how it works. Some gestures look really funny or sometimes it looks like people are just flailing their arms everywhere. But, according to some psychologists these funny gestures actually help people express their thoughts more effectively. "A study analyzing TED Talks last year found that the most popular, viral speakers used an average of about 465 hand gestures, which is nearly twice as many as the least popular speakers used. Other researchers has found that people who “talk” with their hands tend to be viewed as warm, agreeable and energetic, while those who are less animated are seen as logical, cold and analytical (Gregoire, 2016)." This does not mean that you need to be waving your arms up and down every second you say a word though! Hand gestures are important in the way we think. Basically hand gestures take what we are trying to say in our mind and make it so that people understand what we are saying. According to Dr. Carol Kinsey Goman, body language expert “Gesture is really linked to speech, and gesturing while you talk can really power up your thinking.“Gesturing can help people form clearer thoughts, speak in tighter sentences and use more declarative language (Gregoire, 2016)." So don't be afraid to use gestures even if you think its awkward! Hand gestures also play a big part in understanding people. Our bodies are made to read body language so we can tell if someone is passionate or powerful based on their hand gestures and movement without even realizing it.... I just thought that this was some cool information about hand gestures! Hope you enjoyed.

Gregoire, C. (2016, 2 4). The Fascinating Science Behind ‘Talking’ With Your Hands. Retrieved 5 2, 2017, from Huffingtion Post : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/talking-with-hands-gestures_us_56afcfaae4b0b8d7c230414e