52. “Look, Ma, no hands!”

Anchorperson or Weatherperson

The advice about gestures in the previous chapter—to use your hands and arms to illustrate your words and to reach out to your audience, replicating a handshake—has an opposite point of view, and it comes from none other than The Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan.

Throughout his political career, Mr. Reagan rarely used any gestures. A DVD called Ronald Reagan: The Great Communicator is composed of clips from more than 100 public appearances during his eight years as president. In all the clips, he made an expansive gesture with his hands and arms only once.¹ In 1964, in one of his first appearances on the national political stage, Mr. Reagan gave a 30-minute speech to nominate Barry Goldwater and raised his arms only once.²

Mr. Reagan actually began to use this style during his formative years as a presenter. Between the twilight of his days as an actor and the start of his political career as the Governor of California, he spent eight years as a spokesman for General Electric Corporation. This role provided many opportunities to present in many venues.

One of them was as the host of GE Theater, an anthology series of television dramas. In one 1954 episode, he delivered his introduction standing, framed by stage lights, in front a blank wall of a movie studio. Attired in a smartly tailored tweed coat sprouting a natty pocket kerchief, he had his right arm propped on a stage light and his left hand in his trouser pocket. During the entire introduction, neither arm ever budged.

Figure 52.1. Ronald Reagan as host of GE Theatre

You might call this the “Look, Ma, no hands!” approach. The style worked—wonders—for Mr. Reagan. Would it work for you? The answer, as always, is to do what comes naturally to you.

An unnatural approach is to treat gesturing as performing. One variation of performing is to separate the use of hands into two camps known as “Anchorperson or Weatherperson.” As we all know from television news programs, anchorpersons sit stock still at a desk, rarely using their hands, while weatherpersons wave their hands and arms about broadly to indicate weather patterns on a map. This division parallels the Ronald Reagan no-hands style vis-à-vis the gesture-to-illustrate style, but it does so in the context of performance.

If you are reading this book, it is highly unlikely that you are a performer or that you were auditioned for your position to evaluate your acting skills. You were undoubtedly hired on the basis of your background and the personality you presented during your interview, and that personality was your natural style.

For your gestures, heed the advice of Irving Berlin’s song in the classic musical, Annie Get Your Gun, “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly.”³