And you often get it wrong!

Communication triad

You communicate in these three ways: visual, auditory and kinesthetic.

1. Your visual modality – your pics and YOU, either on a post, in person, or on a video or streaming platform.
2. Your auditory channel – what we hear you say.
3. Your kinesthetic approach – your movement.

In that same order, your audience comprehends what you’re showing, saying and doing.

1. Your participants watch you and your slides (visual mode).
2. Your team listens to you (auditory mode).
3. And, coming in last – your message registers with your audience by your gestures, stance and movement.

What makes you most memorable

Your kinesthetic mode. Even though this mode comes behind visual and auditory in the way you comprehend info, it’s your most powerful approach! We remember more of what you say and show when incorporated with planned movement.

The mistakes you make

You spend your communication energy in the first two categories – visual and auditory – at the expense of the final approach – kinesthetic.

Often you don’t even know what you’re doing spatially! The main offenders: pacing and the box trot! You walk from right to left and go back and forth and we, your audience, feel like we are watching a tennis game! OR, even more common, you shuffle around as if you’re tracing the edges of a box. You think this makes you look casual and at ease. But, this haphazard moving around telegraphs your nervous energy.

Your communication challenge

Move with purpose. Feel free to move around, but be strategic.

Next week I’ll blog more about enhancing your audience retention by the way you present kinesthetically.

Author: Karen Cortell Reisman is Founder of Speak For Yourself®, a communication consulting firm, and the author of 2 books on how to communicate. She lives in Dallas, Texas and paces only when she’s waiting for the elevator at her high rise.

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