What does the use of your hands say about you?

“I am not what I am, I am what I do with my hands”

Louise Bourgeois

Some time ago I became aware that I am a born gestural speaker, or a manual speaker, depending on how you look at it. It is true that when it comes to cataloging this particularity, there is still no established term yet. Let’s say I’m one of those people who cannot remain sharing a story without accompanying me by the hands.

This mimicry grounds and accompanies my testimonies.

This style of communication appears especially when I want to give my messages energy, as if I wanted to push my words so that they collide with force against my interlocutors.

When I began my search for scientific information on this particularity, I initially thought that it only had to do with the level of natural expressiveness that a person could possess. However, recent articles claim that this feature It implies much more social influence than we generally think it has.

Socially, we believe that the action of gesturing with the hands It is simply “a distractor” when communicating. It is also true that it depends on the case or situation we are talking about. But, on many occasions you will agree with me that Using our hands attracts more and helps our environment be more aware of what we are sharing.

A recent article on the subject in Forbes magazine supports the theory that those people who talk with their hands develop greater charisma. The habit of having our hands accompany and support us during vocal expression implies a high dose of energy and attraction, since express more emotion.

This result gives the person who enjoys it that one relates more to them, giving them a particular enthusiasm that we call charisma. This trait retains great appeal and generates power within the group where one is speaking.

For all this, it is why we tend to be valued as good leaders by reflecting with our manual gestures an activity related to convincing our listener. Also, people with this particularity when using their hands when speaking present great sincerity, Since many times one does not control the gestures, expressing our emotions with confidence and transparency.

Business Insider columnist Annie Paul, confirms that it is also a hallmark of greater intelligence and insight within the conversation.

In another study, the researcher Albert Mehrabian The impact of a message was presented in percentages: 7% verbal, 38% vocal and 55% signs and gestures, non-verbal language. With this, we know that the verbal component is used to communicate information and the non-verbal component is used to communicate personal states and attitudes. Mehrabian thus states that in a conversation between two or several people the verbal component is 35% and more than 65% is non-verbal communication.

Everything in us expresses. When we are aware of power of languageboth verbal and non-verbal, our senses become sharper and our intelligence develops. Knowing this, I would love to invite you to discover a video of Elsa Punset where to get tips for using non-verbal language:

If you are one of those people who have the power to be conscious when it comes to use your hands in your personal communication, enjoy it. Surely, you are being effective when communicating and expressing your emotions with the people around you.

“My hands, my feet, you have chained the great dreams.”

Roberto Obregon