HOMILETICS
LECTURE 38
GESTURING II
Think of your favorite preachers; are they fairly gestureless? Or, do they employ a lot of gesturing?....
Most ‘successful, famous’ preachers are quite animated…however, there are some who happen to be somewhat gestureless.
To each his own, I guess…
Here are four characteristics of expressive gestures: HR
1. Spontaneous Gestures:
Your gestures should be spontaneous. Gesture, but don’t ‘make gestures’. Your gestures should develop from within you as the outgrowth of conviction and feeling. While you can practice gestures, do not plan them. If in preaching the sermon you use gestures that don’t come naturally, let them go.
Try loosening up your body; stand comortably; move your arms out a bit from your body; flex your elbows a few times; move your neck around; walk a bit; hey, maybe try a backflip or two!...
2. Definite Gestures:
Your gestures should also be definite. When you make a gesture, make it. A halfhearted gesture communicates nothing positive. Put your body behind it. A simple gesture with the index finger or the open hand involves not only the finger, the hand and wrist, but also the upper arm, shoulder, neck, and back. You will even shift your weight slightly for added force. If your gesture appears awkward, it is usually because your entire body doesn’t support it.
How would you be gesturing if you were talking to your kids, wife, or best friends at a picnic? Preaching is no ‘picnic’, but maybe it should be thought of one a bit. Some preachers loosen up a bit, but are still somewhat rigid, inflexible, and partially tied up. They are embarrassed to fully complete a gesture…to make it very definite and full.
3. Varied Gestures:
Your gestures should be varied. Repetition of a single gesture, even a spontaneous and forceful one, calls attention to itself and irritates the audience. For instance, Karate chop hand/arm gesturing gains emphasis, but when used too often, it looks as though you are having a private Karate match with some unseen opponent. Stand in front of your mirror and note how many different ways you can use your body. Someone who has bothered to count them insists that we can produce 700,000 distinct movements with our upper extremeties! Try using either hand, both hands, an open hand, a closed hand, palm up, palm down; experiment with your elbow, shoulder, neck, head, eyes and face. And then there is your back, hips, knees, ankles and feet. When you get into the pulpit, your practice will be reflected in better, more spontaneous, definite, varied gesturing.
We all have nervous habits: fidgiting, rubbing nose, itching scalp, holding hands together, squeezing the pulpit edges tightly, pulling at pants, looking down, looking away from the audience, pacing, playing with coins in pocket, handkercheif security blanket, rocking back and forth, hatcheting motion with arms, pointing hand and arm out, talking really fast….
What is your most prominent nervous gesture? Think about it. Have a close friend or family member tell you kindly. Video tape yourself speaking and then play it back in fastforward and you will see what it, or they, are. You may want to try and elimiate them…
4. Properly Timed Gestures:
Finally, your gestures should be properly timed. A good gesture either accompanies or precedes the word or phrase that carries most of your meaning. If the stroke of the gesture ‘follows’ the word or phrase, it looks ridiculous. Poorly timed gestures usually reflect a lack of spontaneity and proper motivation. Planning your gestures before you speak often results in gestures that are poorly timed.
Make gesturing a normal activity whenever you talk; don’t delay are try and inhibit them. To time them right, they have to be totally natural…be loose, at ease, animated, and when gesturing make sure it is full and definite; and because you are potentially speaking in a large hall, make the gestures pronounced, even a bit exaggerated.
EXAMPLES
“You might step back, casually cross your arms, or angle your body so as to give the congregation time and space to ponder what you’ve just said.” TF
“Farley demonstrated the difference between speaking of the sorrow of sin and the actual coming to a place of repentance. The first time he stood ramrod still except for extending a hand with fingers curled and then bringing it toward his body. The second time, he hunched his body to show sorrow and breathed deeply, moving his chest along with his arm and hand as he described repentance.” TF
“Our actions may often be more expressive than our words. Opening your eyes wide and raising your eyebrows expresses surprise better than words, and a shrug of the shoulders communicates an idea beyond what we say. In general, nonverbal elements more frequently communicate emotions and attitudes. Edward T. Hall sums up the finding of social scientists when he observes, “In addition to what we say with our verbal language, we are constantly communicating our real feelings in our silent language, the language of behavior.”” HR
In a famous study, psychologist Albert Mehrabian broke down how people are most likely to receive information from speaker: Only 7% of a speaker’s message comes through his words; 38% springs from his vocal quality and style, 55% comes from his facial expressions ! How to get people’s attention? It’s less thru words and a lot more than we think thru what we do with our body.
BODY PARTS
FEET
Prov 6:12-14 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
Walk; toe raise; stomp; hobble; run…
CHEST/TORSO
Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Body language shows your passion; it shows that you’re putting your whole body into it.
Make sure gestures are living from the inside—and from the chest and stomach. A gesture’s full meaning comes with breath. That’s why you need to use the chest. In French mime, the chest is the exterior expression of your emotion. TF
Most don’t move their torso much; it remains rigid due to the demands of loud preaching; also, it can look awkward or even suggestive to move the torso, thus great care must be employed here. You may want to bend at the waist occasionally; twist; stretch back.
HEAD/NECK
Matt 27:39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
What killing work it would be to conduct a long conversation while pressing the breathing apparatus against the edge of a table! Stand upright, get a firm position, and then speak like a man. A few orators even err in the other direction, and throw their heads far back as though they were addressing the angels, or saw a handwriting upon the ceiling. This also cometh of evil, and unless the occasional sublime apostrophe requires it, is by no means to be practised. John Wesley well says, "The head ought not to be held up too high, nor clownishly thrust too forward, neither to be cast down and hang, as it were, on the breast; nor to lean always on one or the other side; but to be kept modestly and decently upright, in its natural state and position. Further, it ought neither to be kept immovable, as a statue, nor to be continually moving and throwing itself about. To avoid both extremes, it should be turned gently, as occasion is, sometimes one way, sometimes the other; and at other times, remain, looking straight forward, to the middle of the auditory." CS
Again, don’t be just a talking head; the most important body parts to be animated with are those surrounding the main communication device, the mouth. All the focus is on the mouth area, so animate the head-neck-face-eyes as much as you can.
FACE
In a famous study, psychologist Albert Mehrabian found that only 7% of a speaker’s message comes through his words; 38% through his voice; and 55% comes from his facial expressions ! HR
Because facial expression is very important, your people need to see your face. Therfore illuminate the pulpit with a strong tangential lighting, to keep from forming shadows. Have the pulpit as close to the pews as possible. Overdo a facial expression so that it is all the more apparent to those seated in the back rows. HR
Some faces are naturally sad looking and sad to look at. Make sure your facial expression is correctly and fully portraying what the content and intent of the words that you are speaking are. The face needs to back up what the words say. The face can verify and enhance the truth that you are trying to verbally communicate. As Robinson stated, the expressions need to be exaggerated some so that those in the back can be communicated to by them.
Eyes:
Prov 30:13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
The first thing the preacher must do to enhance credibility is to ensure that he is making eye-to-eye, emotion-to-emotion, person-to-person contact with his audience. TF
Eye contact probably ranks as the single most effective means of nonverbal communication at your disposal. Eyes communicate. They supply feedback to you, and at the same time, hold your audience’s attention. When you look directly at your hearers, you pick up cues that tell you whether they understand what you are saying, whether they are interested, and what the sermon is doing to them (for them). Moreover, when you look listeners in the eye, they feel that you want to talk with them personally. Therefore, pastors who gaze over their audiences’ heads, read a manuscript, stare down at notes, look out windows, gaze continually up to heaven (the ceiling), or worse, shut their eyes while they speak, are at a crippling disadvantage. Almost without exception, a congregation will not listen attentively to speakers who do not look at them. It is also significant that men and women mistrust someone who avoids eye contact, and as a result, they undervalue wht that person says. HR
Make sure your actual eyes are very visible to those looking at you; some tend to squint or have lazy lids. At times, open your eyelids wide; when you look at someone, make sure it is fairly obvious; don’t stare down the middle aisle and preach to the ‘tract rack’ in the back too much (I do this a lot). Look at whom you are talking to!
HANDS
Acts 26:1 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
1 Kings 8:22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
Hands speak volumes. Consider the difference among a fist raised high, an extended arm and cupped hand, waving hand, thumbs up, finger pointing, hands and arms extended out towards the audience, etc.. TF
One of the biggest issues facing a pastor standing in front of an audience is what he should do with his hands. Consequently, what often happens is that the hands clasp together, in a limiting position. In conversation, most of us are animated. We become descriptive with our hands. When we're in front of a larger group of people, because of the adrenaline that's going through us, we often feel uncomfortable and tend to hold back on our hand gestures. We consequently put forth a different kind of personality then we would in a social setting.
What I suggest is when you are ready to begin the sermon, let your hands fall down at your side, at neutral. When you begin to talk, if you give yourself the license to move, you'll find the hands instantly moving away from the body, being descriptive. They will help the congregation to see, not just hear. When we're standing in front of a congregation, the energy that we feel comes from an adrenaline rush. If we let the energy work for us the way we do in everyday conversation, we become more expressive and more interesting to look at.
What about ‘grabbing the pulpit’? Well, most of the time we hold onto the pulpit because it's there. As soon as we do that, however, all of the energy that should go toward description, emphasis and enthusiasm is wasted on the pulpit. Consider this alternative: put your printed material or Bible on the pulpit. Take just a half step back from the pulpit and distribute your weight evenly. Then, rest your hands on the shelf of the pulpit, without leaning on or grabbing onto it. This way, when hand gestures are called for, because your hands are not supporting your body, they will just move, and help to convey the impact of the message.
However, a preacher must be careful not to go overboard with hand gestures. If he falls into this trap, he could damage his credibility because it says to the congregation, "I am uncomfortable saying what I'm saying." If we as preachers are not seen as being at ease, the congregation becomes uncomfortable. If we cause the congregation to become uncomfortable, it will have a deleterious effect on the impact of the message. Congregations want the preacher to be strong. How do we create the impression of strength? Stand up straight. Use a strong voice. Let the hands work naturally for description and emphasis. Finally, look at individuals in your congregation as you speak. BP
Holding notes is another potential problem simply because if we're holding something in our hands the chances are that we're going to play with it. If we're using computer generated visuals, slides or overheads, we might use a pointer. This is another example of a potential distraction. If you’re using a pointer, use it to point, put it down and continue preaching. BP
If you must pound the pulpit, pound it softly, and avoid shaking your finger at your audience. That action scolds your listeners and causes them to distance themselves. Instead, stick the arm out but with the hand open, palm side up; this is intreating, vice blaming. HR
John Wesley in his Directions concerning Pronunciation and Gesture cramps the preacher too much when he says, "He must never clap his hands, nor thump the pulpit. The hands should seldom be raised higher than the eyes:" but he probably had his eye upon some glaring case of extravagance. He is right, however, when he warns his preachers that "the hands should not be in perpetual motion, for this the ancients called the babbling of the hands." CS
Occasionally one meets with a saw-like action, in which the arm seems lengthened and contracted alternately. This motion is carried out to perfection when the orator leans over the rail, or over the front of the pulpit, and cuts downward at the people, like the top sawyer operating upon a piece of timber. One wonders how many planks a man would cut in the time if he were really working upon wood instead of sawing the air. We are all grateful for converted sawyers, but we trust they will feel at liberty to leave their saws behind them.
Much the same may be said for the numerous hammer-men who are at work among us, who pound and smite at a great rate, to the ruining of Bibles and the dusting of pulpit cushions. CS
In closing, make sure to communicate not just with your words, but also with your entire being! Non-verbal communication is very helpful in enhancing and affirming what the words are trying to say.
Don’t be afraid to break out of the cage that you seem trapped in when in front of an audience!
Video tape yourself the next time you are speaking to a group of people. Analyze it carefully for your body language. Try and make helpful changes. Remember, it’s all about communicating the truth to those listening to you.
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