25 – Why your listener can “hear” your body language

WEBVTT

Your listener can hear your body, even if they can't see it. That might sound gross. You might be wondering

what the heck I'm getting at. If you slump in your chair, this shows up in your voice. And if you gesture with

your hands when you talk, that energy shows up in the audio you record. And if you do video, all of that makes a

difference too.

Now, if you've seen my videos, you know how much I gesture with my hands. It's a lot. It can be a lot. But it's

especially hard when you're recording audio on its own because your brain isn't thinking audience. And

our voice isn't going to process the energy or add that energy unless it gets the signals from the other

parts of our body. So if you sit still and speak, your voice isn't going to add that energy unless you

actually do.

gesture as well. Physicality and our voices are mechanically connected. So there's some technical

backing to how this all works. Our breath will change based on how we're sitting. So our vocal resonance

will change based on whether your chest is open or contracted. So when we're in a room by ourselves, it can

feel really strange to have that performer type of energy when we're all alone.

But if we stay still or contracted, like we don't want to disturb this quiet room that we're alone in, that's

going to end up on the microphone and in your performance. And all of this is generally some kind of

performance, right? I noticed this made a huge difference when I was practicing and performing improv and

sketch comedy while I was online. If I just stood up to do the sketch or the scene, which most people who are

practicing that don't,

That act alone made a really significant difference in the kinds of characters I could do. And it

completely changed the energy and the feeling of what I did in that performance. When I voice act for my

audio fiction series that I do, I always stand up to do my lines. I quite often stand to do these educational

podcasts as well. I always did earlier on without fail because I absolutely had to when I was doing it.

I was new. But nowadays it just depends on the day mostly. So think about your posture, your gesturing, all

that good stuff while you record. Here's something you can try to see how it might affect things for you. Do a

comparison of this. Force yourself to keep your hands in your lap or your pockets and sit and record say a

minute of your show. You're not allowed to move at all. Next, stand up and gesture.

While you talk, keeping your chest open, move your hands with the words just like you would when you're

talking, say, to a friend or partner. And listen to both of those takes. Do that comparison. Don't watch

yourself if you record video, just listen. This physicality can do all the work instead of trying to, like,

manufacture vocal energy from nothing at all. It's way easier to do it this way. And as a tip, if you use the

mic

If you can find one that isn't really low profile, that has the bar down where your hands are, you'll whack

your hands on that arm a whole lot less if you find one that is not low profile. I'm Jen DeHaan. This is the

Credibility Minute. Find more episodes and get in touch with me at stereoforest.com slash minute. I'll

put a link to the mic arm that I use right now in the show notes.