Descriptive Gestures

Descriptive gestures are used to clarify or emphasize a verbal message. Gestures are an important
aspect of nonverbal communication. Gestures include:
• Descriptive gestures representing attributes such as:
– shape. Draw a circle in the air to indicate roundness
- location. Place one hand behind the other to indicate the “behind” position
– speed. Rotate your finger in a small circle to indicate "Faster" or "Hurry"
- Texture. Run your finger across the skin to indicate "smooth".

Emphatic Gestures
Empathy is an expression of gentleness plus compassion. When expressing emphatic gestures,
it is important to remember to keep our joints flexible, our body open and not to fake
feelings. Emphasis gestures commonly accompany speech to emphasize an emotional
state. Like-when the speaker says "I'm sorry" and puts his hand on her chest.

Suggestive Gestures
A provocative gesture is a symbol of ideas and feelings. It helps the speaker create a desired mood
or express a particular idea. These are gestures we use to suggest emotions without having to speak
out loud. It is similar to an emotional gesture in that it usually involves the whole body rather than
just the hands. An example of a provocative gesture is folding our arms to suggest indifference.

Prompting Gestures
These are the gestures we operate to inspire others to do the same. Unlike the preceding four, these
probably are not gestures we operate in normal conversation until you cross around telling people
“Raise your hand if…” (and also we elevate our hand first to inspire our listener to elevate their
hand too).