Yes! You Can, and Should, Use Hand Gestures on Zoom

One of our user’s recently shared an important realization from their Virtual Presence Assessment experience. Here it is paraphrased below: 

“I didn’t realize I could use hand gestures on zoom…or that they could add such value to my virtual communication.”

This professional is not alone – quite a few professionals have shared similar sentiments. There are a few reasons why professionals often don’t use hand gestures on video:

• They feel awkward
• Don’t know what to do with their hands
• Don’t realize that their hand gestures are not getting picked up by the lens
• May have gotten feedback not to use hand gestures because the are ‘distracting’

Hand gestures are a very human element in our communication. Hand gestures help build trust and they help add nuance to what we are saying. 

Our audience benefit more from a speaker who leverages all aspects of their communication toolkit in a way that is aligned with what they are saying. Necessarily, this must include effective use of hand gestures. 

Check out the 1 minute video below to hear more about how you can effectively build a hand gesture vocabulary, to increase the efficacy of your time on video.