Show What You Mean Speech
Using body language to get your message across

Source: Flickr - Mikebaird

A show what you mean speech is requires after you've done a few speeches and will teach you about using your body language, facial expressions and gestures to enhance your speech. Below I'll set out some pointers to remember while preparing and delivering your speech, as well as potential topics for your 'show what you mean' speech.

Physical Movement

A lot of our communication is actually non-verbal. Physical movement during a speech needs to enhance the topic you are speaking about, not detract from it. So use it only when appropriate to do so. Examples might include the 'jumping in fright' when a rat ran over your feet, or a more famous example - Steve Jobs pacing back and forth at an Apple product launch to hypnotize his audience and create fanatics.

Body language

Are you standing upright and hands clasped rigidly at your sides? What message is that conveying to your audience? Fright, being paralyzed with fear, or something along those veins. If that is not the part of your topic's message, you might want to try a bit more variety.

If you are just standing on one spot, try a neutral stance where your feet are about a shoulder length apart, hands relaxed at your sides (until you bring them up to enhance something in your speech with a gesture) and head up straight and looking forward to make eye contact with your audience members.

Source: Flickr - stewtopia

Facial Expressions

There are seven basic facial expressions that are the same across all cultures: anger, sadness, joy, contempt, disgust, fear and surprise (see this list of basic facial expressions in a new window). Have a look at them and try to emulate them. There are also a range of different feelings that people experience beyond these basic - see the WeFeelFine.org website (In the Interactive version, click on the 'feelings' button at the top) - it will give you a wide selection to choose from to add or enhance your speech if you can incorporate it.

Smile. If your topic is not too serious, always try to smile. It brings out friendliness and conveys warmth and sincerity. In addition, your audience will smile back at you and will be biased to like your show what you mean speech.

Gestures

Source: Flickr - purpleslog

By adding gestures to your speech, you can really spice up your story and give clear indication of what is happening and what people are feeling (facial expressions). Gestures are generally broken down into these types:

1. Emphatic gestures: Emphasize the point you are making - shaking your fist to show you are serious.
2. Suggestive gestures: Suggesting something, e.g. Shrugging the shoulder to show you don't know.
3. Descriptive gestures: Describing something or pointing the way. Easily used when telling a story of something physical that happened, e.g. I teetered on the railing, but then I fell face first into the water.
4. Prompting gestures: when you are prompting your listeners for a reaction, e.g. Clapping your own hands to ask them to start clapping.

Pepper your speech with relevant gestures at the right time and your message will get across more emphatically.

To practice, take pictures of yourself with a digital camera when you are trying to emulate those expressions and gestures of your speech. Then look at them afterward and see if they convey the feelings, emotions or actions that you want.

Show what you mean speech topic ideas

• Describing a jaw-dropping place / view that you've seen.
• The ... (adjective) ... (noun) I've ... (adverb)... (verb). For example: "The biggest fish I've ever managed to catch."
• Describe a physical thing that happened to you / and adventure that you've been on like skydiving or bumper cars.
• Emphasizing an action to take, e.g. "Stop whining and go and vote for people you DO want in government!"
• The emergence / confusion of the man-hug.
• This thing happened and I laughed so hard.
• Physical things I'm afraid of and why - think mice, spiders, robots, etc.

More Resources for your Show What You Mean speech

(All links open in a new window)

• Sample of a Show What you Mean speech
• Body language when speaking
• More on body language
• 9 Pillars of public speaking gestures
• All eyes are on you when public speaking

Where Next?

Back to Speech Topics from Show What You Mean Speech

Back to Toastmasters Public Speaking