Blame it on Broca’s Brain.
It’s a part of the brain that’s active when we’re speaking, but is also active when we wave our hands. (The Fascinating Science Behind ‘Talking’ With Your Hands | HuffPost Impact)
Virtually every last VO coach I know of recommends gesticulating while you voice your copy in the booth/studio.
Bear with me, but I believe that certain people and certain situations do not warrant this admonition.
I’m no VO coach, and I don’t wanna be. But I know what works for me, and flailing around with my hands while I talk is not part of my normal behavior, and in no way enhances my VO performance (I’ve tried). It doesn’t facilitate my emotions, expressions, or aid in my cognition. (40 years of TV news anchoring has trained me well…flailing around with my arms while on camera is a definite no-no…I admit that’s unique).
I realize I’m an outlier in my beliefs. See the references below all of which state the advantages of using hand motions while talking.
The Science of Talking With Your Hands
Gesturing saves cognitive resources when talking about nonpresent objects (nih.gov)
Why do we move our hands when we talk I: Finding the right words | Psychology Today
The Fascinating Science Behind ‘Talking’ With Your Hands | HuffPost Impact.
The science is not setled, though, and I offer the following:
Four situations where gesticulating while voicing is a bad idea:
- “Talking with your hands” is not your normal method of communicating
- The script demands a thoughtful (anthem-like) or subdued delivery
- You find your movements registering on your audio timeline (or you’re hitting the sides of your booth or mic)
- It’s clear using hand movement is NOT helping your interpretation/delivery of the copy
Tellya what — just like the first time you tried talking in the booth without headphone, and found it likeable…maybe not talking with your hands will also be a tool in your kit. Give it a whirl…join the ranks of the un-demonstrative!
CourVO
A few more articles worth considering:
Do YOU Talk With Your Hands? The Answer Can Be Surprisingly Revealing… | LittleThings.com
How hand gestures alter the perception of your speech – Big Think
My goodness Dave, but you’re quite the iconoclast! First the sitting, and now the waving! 😉
I agree on the former, as I have always been limited in my recording space height. As to gesticulation, I will sometimes use my hands in a muted sort of way, mostly as a means of finding the rhythm in a piece of copy. I suspect that the waving of hands and full body participation, though, is almost a requirement of voicing animation. However, as I don’t do animation, I don’t know this with any degree of certainty.
For myself, I spent several decades doing live TV news audio, and appreciate that anchors gesticulate with their eyes, their head and body language in a visual medium, and the really good ones do it in subtle ways.
So yeah – no waving that head around!
Michael!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your take on things.
Iconoclast? Heck, I’m just getting started! LOL I’ve got a long list.
all the best,
Dave Courvoisier