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October 13, 2005
Hands waving and fingers pointing
Tonight, I attended a seminar with Yasmin at Harvard Medical School on Crimes and Science. It was a very extensive presentation on the way DNA is used in aiding forensic analyses of crime scenes. I found myself lost at some points in the speech because new concepts were being addressed; scientific methods I have never seen and vocabulary unknown to me. When one of the speakers could not answer a question, one other man in the audience explained the concepts in simpler terms using his hands. I understood every metaphor he made, every example he gave, and I do think that my comprehension was due to the movement of his arms, hands, fingers, head, and actual body motion. Specifically, he utilized the deictic and beats gesture. He kept pointing to a certain spot and then refering back to that certain point to illustrate a scientific technique. I found it extremely helpful! Also, he tended to tilt his head to the side with every new phrase he began. In addition, during my First Year Experience class, I noticed that my teacher used all kinds of the gestures in every sentence she said. She puts emotion into every sentence and now, I can detect when she is try to say something important or stress something. She tilts her head and moves up into her chair, and then she commences her sentence. She also waves her arms around and around when she cannot think of a word. It is a stalling technique, in a way. This is a cohesive gesture. In the end, I have found myself using gestures more and more. I used to never contiously think about the way I move my hands or head, but now, I am contious of what I am doing. --Christina
Posted by lcisgancarz at October 13, 2005 09:18 PM
Comments
Not only is waving of arms while thinking of a word a stalling technique but (from personal experience) it can help the speaker get the word out. If she keeps her arms flowing, she can keep the sentence flowing in her mind. Just something to think about.
Posted by: Jessica Y at October 16, 2005 01:33 PM