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CHAPTER XIX

COMMON SENSE IN GESTURE

"Suit the action to the word-the word to the action." -SHAKESPEARE.

"MAKING gestures" is a hoodoo to the beginner in public speaking. Say "gesture" to him and he begins to back off right away and look foolish. If he is told to act" simply natural" he acts naturally simple. On top of this he has a horror of doing anything which may seem affected or artificial. Evidently there is a strong public reaction against an overdose of Delsarte. People grew so sick of seeing the unnatural, curving contortions of Delsartean elocutionists whose performances would have made Delsarte himself turn over in his grave, that they have no use for any mechanical system of gesturing and react strongly against anything that pertains to it. So as usual, they have gone to the other extreme, and cling to a mechanical stiffness, utterly lacking in any action whatsoever, entirely devoid of grace or naturalness.

This extreme is just as bad as the other, and departs just as far from naturalness. Fix firmly in mind this fact-It is unnatural not to gesture. When a man goes on the platform and stands there as stiff as a fence-post, with no action whatever of head or hands, he is acting in a very unnatural way. Watch this same man talking to a group of friends in his office and note how he moves his body and his head, and especially how he uses his hands and gestures freely

to emphasize or illustrate his points. It is the most natural thing in the world for him to do this, so natural that as a rule he is unconscious that he is gesturing at all. But when he goes on the platform, he

holds himself with unnatural stiffness and awkwardness and thinks that it would be "unnatural" for him to gesture. Of course, the man who gestures continually with the maddening mechanical precision of a piston rod or gesticulates wildly, waving his arms like a windmill, is also unnatural and ineffective. Gesture must not be overdone. A continual series of gestures is as tiresome to the eye as monotony of voice is to the ear. Do not smother your ideas with a barrage of gymnastics. Fortunately there is a happy medium, which conforms more truly to nature, and adds wonderfully to expression.

POSTURE AND PHYSICAL POISE

Just as every movement a speaker makes before an audience carries a meaning, so the absence of movement has a meaning. Often the speaker who holds his body stiffly and awkwardly without a gesture is advertising the fact to all that he is badly scared and has "lost his grip." Just as free and expressive action of the whole body conveys the suggestion of efficiency to his listener, so the lack of it conveys the impression of inefficiency. Let no man delude himself with the idea that by refraining from movement he can escape this verdict from a modern audience. This is a movie age-in which most people take their most vivid impressions through the visual sense, which has grown very keen by constant use.

In fact, they "size up" a speaker the minute they

catch sight of him, and that first impression is important. Before he has time to get into action, they notice his posture, his bearing, the way he carries himself, his position on the floor. The first thing, then, to do, is to stand right. And by standing right we mean, not only the position of the feet but the arch of the chest, the poise of the head, the balanced body, all that goes to make physical poise. Following this, the speaker should work for the coördinated and harmonious action of the entire body as he speaks and that freedom of movement which is the most natural thing in the world.

GESTURE A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Gesture is the first and most primitive form of expression. The aborigines conveyed their thoughts to each other by forceful, though crude motions of the body long before they could speak a word. The North American Indian was more expressive in his gestures and developed a sign language which largely took the place of speech. We must realize how fundamental gesture is as a means of expression, and realize also, that the finer art of gesture and action when developed to the nth degree, can convey such an infinite amount of meaning, express so many shades of thought and feeling as to render words almost unnecessary. The actor has always held that the action is of far greater importance than the lines. George Arliss acted the part of Disraeli with such "finesse" that his closing of a door was a thing long to be remembered. European artists have frequently given pantomimes which held their audiences spellbound for an houryet no word was spoken. Bernhardt gave plays in

America, speaking French-and while many in the theater could not understand a word of it, so expressive were her gestures, so marvelous her acting, that they were able to understand her and follow the plot of the play. And the modern "movie" is itself a farther demonstration of the universal language of gesture, since the story is developed more through the action and facial expression than by the words thrown on the screen.

GAINING FREEDOM

Realizing, then, the great value of gesture as a complement of speech, let the student study it in a common sense way and learn to utilize it in his own speech. He must loosen up-throw away his fears and gain his freedom, then it will be a very natural and easy thing for him to put some action into his delivery.

Frequently a beginner will say, in regard to the simplest gesture which is necessary to convey the thought fully, "Why, I never made a gesture like that in my life-it isn't natural for me." But he is mistaken. He has used the wrong word. The gesture may not be "habitual," but it is "natural." Through long years of repression, he has grown away from the natural way of expression and developed some bad habits. Hence he confuses "natural" with "habitual" and looks askance at gestures which are normal and right.

This body is intended to express thought and emotion, and gesture is indeed a powerful aid to the spoken word. It supplements and reënforces speech, adding tremendously to its clearness and effectiveness. Without gesture, delivery is a devitalized thing.

Without action, the speaker is sadly handicapped. He is like a pianist who can play on one octave only, never using the full keyboard. The body should be freed from its stiffness, and trained to instant responsiveness. Nothing is small or unimportant in delivery. Even the little finger is eloquent, if you know how to use it, and the lifting of an eyebrow may speak volumes. The common-sense attitude in regard to gesture will lead the student to change his mental viewpoint; to realize that he must overcome his fear and stiffness and awkwardness and go to work with a will. By and by he will gain the freedom and power and grace of action which are his as a God-given right.

THE A. B. C. OF GESTURE

Here, as in other factors of delivery, a few fundamental laws must be used as a working basis. The following points may be regarded as the A. B. C. of gesture. They are far better than any set rules.

A.

Law of Motion

All strong gestures start from the shoulder. The little narrow, cramped fear-thought gestures generally start from the elbow. They have no sweep or breadth and convey only littleness of thought, cramped, narrow views. But the gesture which starts from the shoulder expresses strength. It is big and broad and free and conveys the same qualities of thought and feeling. Of course, the narrow gestures are all right to express the trivial or the subtleties of thought and feeling.

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