Recently, a client of mine, who is also a childhood friend, left me a voice mail saying that he did not think my short article on the power of gesture<\/a><\/strong> to create emotion was appropriate for the market I serve. Essentially, the short piece tried to make the point that speakers can alter their inner emotional state by finding a gesture to do (in private) that can move them out of fear and anxiety<\/a><\/strong> and into calmness and confidence.<\/p>\n

He said that the suggestion seemed too “pop” and “retail” and inappropriate for sophisticated people. To him, it seemed like something he would find in an airline magazine.<\/p>\n

I am grateful for his honesty, and for his trust that I would take his comment in the right way. I know he is watching out for my best interests.<\/p>\n

I would like to try to make the point again (and here<\/em> in public<\/em>) in a way that makes it more palatable to him and those who might think as he does.<\/p>\n

We all agree that just as feelings create physical gestures (happiness puts a spring in your step), gestures can stimulate feelings (raising your hands above your head and punching the air in triumph tends to lift a sagging mood.)<\/p>\n

As speakers, we want to present ourselves as enthusiastic upbeat people who are excited about our material. If we happen to be nervous, a few fist pumps, or jumping jacks, or whatever<\/em>, done out of sight of the audience, will serve to prime our emotional pumps.<\/p>\n

Also, while sophisticated people may reject the idea that they could benefit from using creative gestures as an offstage tool to create more positive inner states (even though they admire dancers, actors and singers who use just those techniques to bring their material to life) they themselves might more effectively bring their own complex messages to life with a bit more expressiveness.<\/p>\n

I taught acting for many years under the tutelage of Michael Chekhov and his disciples, and I now serve on the board of MICHA–the Michael Chekhov Association. Michael Chekhov was the nephew of Anton Chekhov, and he was considered the greatest actor of the 20th century in Russia.<\/p>\n

Michael Chekhov disagreed with Stanislavsky about how actors should create the inner life of their characters. Stanislavsky suggested, for instance, that when called upon to cry, the actor should recall his “dying grandfather” or some other sad event, a technique he called sense memory. Michael Chekhov, on the other hand, suggested that creative gesture can stimulate sensation, and that sensation is the vessel into which we can pour our creative feelings.<\/p>\n

I think both can work, but I tend to lean toward Chekhov. The technique of sense memory removes us from the immediate circumstances, and asks us to visualize something that occurred, or will occur, at another time and place.<\/p>\n

Gesture, on the other hand, gives me an immediate physical and psychological jolt that arouses my vitality and sense of play. I can walk out on stage with an inner feeling that I have the energy and will to do my best.<\/p>\n

The body can speak to the inner life, and when necessary, we can use gesture as a tool<\/a><\/strong> to create a more appealing and effective presence.<\/p>\n