Hand gestures while talking?

LegacyUser

Someone pointed out to me today that I seem to use a lot of hand gestures while im talking. It’s the first time anyone has mentioned this to me before. I’ve always known that I have done this however they pointed out that people seem to get distracted by my hand gestures and loose track of what im saying.

Does anyone else notice this and what’s your opinion on it?

Victor

I hum and haw, well more "emmmmMMMMM".

I suppose just keep an eye on it, but don't become paranoid about it.

WhiteWashMan

woops? wrote:

Someone pointed out to me today that I seem to use a lot of hand gestures while im talking. It’s the first time anyone has mentioned this to me before. I’ve always known that I have done this however they pointed out that people seem to get distracted by my hand gestures and loose track of what im saying.

Does anyone else notice this and what’s your opinion on it?

i have no idea. i have never talked to you or met you in preson so i dont think i have ever seen these hand gestures.

i think you should continue being you and forget the one person on this planet you have met who has the attention span of a gnat.

Azureus

i do this a lot too, i got it from my mam who does it way more!
its just a way of expressing yourself!

Fajitas!

Yeah I use alot of hand expressions, and what not. It can be easier to express yourself visually, or aid what your trying to get across using your hands.

Pyr0

woops? wrote:

Someone pointed out to me today that I seem to use a lot of hand gestures while im talking. It’s the first time anyone has mentioned this to me before. I’ve always known that I have done this however they pointed out that people seem to get distracted by my hand gestures and loose track of what im saying.

Does anyone else notice this and what’s your opinion on it?

I do it all the time !!!

My friends are always pointing it out to me and saying how distracting it is sometimes. I just tell them to hush up and listen then continue on with my story

Dave!

you should practise spelling out the words you say, using your hands -- then if the hands are distracting them, then at least they're still following the story!

Bartronilic

Once I was mega hungover and my sister used weird hand actions when telling to me bring the bin out. It was so weird that I fainted. True story.

Eurorunner

To the OP: Its actually a positive thing rather than negative. Its part of a persons natural body language. If you ever come across a good salesperson, they are quite likely to use hand gestures in tandem with what they are saying. So ignore any negative comments..

democrates

Have you thought about helping the deaf community?

chern0byl

Hand gestures from those in the "Hand Gesture" camp!

Im very animated when i talk. Never had someone really complain about it. A friend(jen) once pointed it out. So she politely sat on my hands while we had a discussion. It was merely an offer and i ofcourse accepted willingly.

LovelyHurling

Mary Robinson is a divil for it and look where she is now...

A retired married old woman...

No no no no look where it got her - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and more importantly the freedom of the town of galway!

Roen

Azureus wrote:

i do this a lot too, i got it from my mam who does it way more!
its just a way of expressing yourself!

Me too, I'm like a puppet sometimes, waving my hands about
Don't worry

SexeeAussie

I too am like this, apparently I get worse when I am pissed (as in drunk) or when I get excited telling a story. I am constantly knocking over glasses of wine etc at dinner parties......

My friends reckon I must have Italian blood, as they love to use their hands etc when talking.

I don't give a toss if someone mentions it, but I have to say when I went for a job interview today I had my hands folded politely on the desk!!!!

Don't stress, accept your own idiosyncrasies!!! Unless you are actually hitting people as you speak, who CARES!!!

DonkeyStyle \o/

Some people do this waaay too much... it seems more like a habit than a communication aid... granted it helps in certain difficult-to-visualize situations, but the rolling-wrist, flapping hands and pointing finger are just stupid and annoying.
Think about all the great literary works that didn't need pictures of the authors hands flailing about to describe the most vivid and suspenseful stories... audio-books being the perfect example.
As for sales-people, I'm sure that if they were doing it to the point of distracting/annoying someone; they'd be pulled up on it... you can do almost anything to annoying excess... just look at the obsessive compulsives, or people who use "like"* between every second word :eek:

*I'm like so guity as charged

Dr. Dre

If your friends lose track of what your saying just because of some gesticulation then it's their problem, not yours.

embraer170

Look at Jacques Chirac....

LegacyUser

Im glad im not the only one :P

Blisterman

I do it all the time too. Nothing to worry about.

Nimrod's Son

Hand gestures are not necessarily a bad thing. I talk ****e half the time so if over-gesticulating distracts someone from what I'm saying, then I'm happy! :v:

JC 2K3

I do it all the time, not so much in the form of waving my hands around though, I tend to act out what I'm sayin, no one seems to notice or care but me, although I find it a funny habit.

So I opened the bottle....
I handed it to him.....
I was playing guitar.....

Fysh

I do this a lot but only realised at work - I work in a call centre, yet still find myself gesticulating when I explain things to people on the phone. I get funny looks for it regularly, but screw it. If I make a conscious effort to stop doing it I find it harder to concentrate on what I'm saying - if someone else finds it distracting then they're not paying attention to what you're saying which is their problem, not yours.