Leading With Hands

This week I have been paying close attention to multiple facilitators. Specifically I have been watching how they use their hands as tools. As I have watched I was quick to realize that hands can both be used not only as tools but also as distractors. As tools they can be used as attention getters and to emphasize something you are teaching, or directions you are getting.  On the other hand, using your hands while facilitating can also be very distracting to participants. They become to distracting when you are using them too much or moving them unconsciously.

Hands are very affective tools as attention getters. Doing something as simple as clapping your hands together, is a way to get your participants attention. Furthermore, a facilitator can use their hands to get participants attention by using the "clap once if you hear me" technique. With this technique, the facilitator is able to use their hands, while also getting the participants involved and using their own hands.

Another way that effective leaders use hands as a tool, is when they are used to emphasize whatever topic is at hand. For example, if one is teaching the game duck, duck, goose to their participants. The use of hands is very helpful when showing what the person who is "it", needs to do. Demonstrating with hands can be very useful, and also while teaching topics they can be useful. When teaching a new topic to students, pointing at really important ideas helps emphasize the idea and makes it stand out to the students. Also a simple fist pump after a student answers something correctly can help build confidence within the participant.

Although hands are a great tool, when used to much they become a great distraction. If a teacher points at every idea they are teaching, then there is not one concept that seems more important to know than the others. Also if you are leading a class and you are flailing your arms and hands around while explaining a game, participants start to focus on your hands more than the directions.

Lastly many leaders seem to move their hands unconsciously when they are facilitating. This became very apparent to me when I was in class during the week. I had a professor who kept grabbing her neck or one of her ears. This made it very had to pay attention to the material that she was teaching because all I could focus on were her awkward hand movements from her neck to her ear.

Overall hands are a very useful tool, which I feel every leader should use effectively. Before focusing on this aspect of a facilitator I really only saw positive things about using your hands while facilitating. After a week of observing, I have realized that although hands are great tools, we must also be very conscious of how much and how we are using them. When used to much they are no longer tools and can actually hurt a facilitation. With all that being said, I still encourage hand usage and will continue to use my hands while I facilitate. On the other hand I will make sure to be very cautious about how I use them.