Bad body language techniques -The Bill Clinton thumb smash

Worst public speaking invention of the last 20 years -- the Thumb Smash

I think the Bill Clinton is one of the two top public speakers in the world today (the other being Tony Blair), but he picked up this odd way of smashing his thumb on top of his giners when making a strong point. Bill, stop doing this! It looks phony and unnatural. I've never seen anyone in real life making this gesture unless they were holding a remote control. I'm told he does this because some consultant told him people would be offended if he were seen pointing a finger. This is nonsense. Audiences relate to speakers who move their hands and bodies in completely natural ways.

Don't I look stupid here with the Clinton-invisible-remote-control-thumb smash pose?

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• public speaking
• presentation training

[tjwalker]

@PsychoticPsychology Interesting point! Thanks for sharing.

[PsychoticPsychology]

I agree with the basic idea that natural body language is more effective and that the 'thumb smash' looks bad. But that's relative. The way I see it, natural body language is what is natural for the audience you are presenting to. If your audience is a bunch of couch potatos, then the thumb smash makes perfect sense. It also could be an anchor with some meaning like "turn on, turn off, change the channel" etc.