TITLE:
Non-Verbal Presence: How Changing Your Behaviour Can Increase Your Ratings for Persuasion, Leadership and Confidence
AUTHORS:
Richard Newman, Adrian Furnham, Laura Weis, Marcus Gee, Roxana Cardos, Alixe Lay, Alastair McClelland
KEYWORDS:
Presence, Power, Influence, Hands, Feet, Body Language
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.7 No.4,
April
13,
2016
ABSTRACT: This study looks at how people rate specific non-verbal cues (NVC) with
regard to the presence and persuasiveness of the speaker. The first study (N =
1500) was conducted to attempt to isolate specific non-verbal signals (hands
and feet) that were related to ratings on influence and persuasiveness. In the
second study, over 600 people rated a high quality video of an actor speaking.
A sex by age by race by NVC ANOVA on six ratings, a total score and a question
about voting showed a very consistent pattern with strong main effects for NVC,
especially in ratings of confidence and persuasiveness. There were few
significant interactions. Implications for training public speakers are
considered. Limitations of the research are also noted.