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Persuasive Gestures Practice

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Persuasive Gestures Practice

Explore how gestures shape a persuasive speech. Then plan, rehearse and reflect on a short speech of your own. For open-ended questions, use the sample answer as a guide; your response may differ if it is well explained.

Read the situation

At a community forum, a speaker argues that the local council should plant more trees along busy streets. The speaker says: “Trees cool our streets, make walking more pleasant and give wildlife a place to live. This is not a cosmetic extra; it is an investment in healthier neighbourhoods. Let’s start with the streets that need shade most.”

1.Match each gesture type to its most accurate description. Use each description once.

Iconic
Emphatic
Regulator
Adaptor

Often habitual, self-soothing movement, such as repeatedly twisting a ring
Movement that helps manage turn-taking, such as an open hand inviting a response
Movement that depicts an idea or action, such as indicating the height of a tree
Movement that adds emphasis to a key phrase, such as a controlled downward beat

2.During the line “This is not a cosmetic extra; it is an investment in healthier neighbourhoods”, which gesture would most directly emphasise the contrast?

A small, deliberate hand beat on “not” and another on “investment”
Repeatedly touching the face while looking down
Waving continuously throughout the sentence
Turning away from the audience

3.The speaker holds both hands apart to suggest the broad canopy of a tree while saying, “A mature tree can spread its shade across the footpath.” What gesture type is this, and how does it support the message?

4.Imagine the speaker faces the audience, stands with an open posture and makes eye contact. Choose one of these non-verbal choices and explain how it could help the speaker build connection or credibility with the audience.

5.A speaker uses large sweeping gestures on every sentence, including factual details and pauses. Explain one way this could weaken persuasion, then suggest a more effective adjustment.

6.For a persuasive speech to a live audience, select the choices that can support effective delivery.

Vary eye contact across the audience
Keep a balanced, open posture
Match gestures to the meaning and emphasis of the words
Use the same gesture repeatedly regardless of the message
Treat facial expression as part of the overall message

Plan and rehearse

Choose a school or community issue you genuinely care about. Aim for a clear claim, two reasons and a specific call to action. Plan gestures that clarify meaning or emphasis rather than decorating every sentence.

7.Write a one-sentence claim for a persuasive speech on an issue you care about. Add two distinct supporting reasons and a specific action you want your audience to take.

8.Using your argument from Question 7, choose one key phrase. Write the phrase and plan a gesture that supports its meaning or emphasis. Explain why the gesture fits.

9.Deliver a 30–60 second version of your argument to a partner or aloud to yourself. After rehearsing, identify one delivery choice that worked and one change you will make to your eye contact, posture, facial expression or gestures. Explain how the change could improve your impact.