[NF] NFs: Do you gesture a lot?

[Mad Hatter]

Of course I do!
It happens whenever I'm sort of emotionally involved and try to show where my point is. It depends however on the situation - when I give presentations, I gesture a lot (and the bigger the audience the more so). When I talk to people I know well, my hands sometimes do half of the talking.
Only with strangers my hands usually stay in my pockets or holding a cigarette

 

[chickpea]

haha yes i gesture all the time, especially when i'm giving someone directions. also, people tell me my facial expressions are really dramatic and i'm not even aware of it most of the time.

 

[Thalassa]

Yes I do. Very much so.

 

[One Day]

I usually only do it when I'm trying to explain something to someone. Otherwise it's just limp and dangling.

 

[2XtremeENFP]

I most definitely do. I always got points taken off in my speeches for using too many gestures.

I am just an all around very readable person. I make immediate facial expressions to every bit of information I am given and people can see right through me if I agree or disagree with them. I don't even realize I do it.

 

[Soar337]

Yes, I do alot although usually it's only with my close friends, or when I'm trying to be an extrovert around other people (the hand gestures are still an unconscious thing)

 

[PeaceBaby]

Otherwise it's just limp and dangling.

That just sounds so wrong somehow.

But yes, yes I do make many hand gestures and big facial gestures and sometimes the whole body gets involved in telling the story.

It's like using every tool in the communications toolbox.

 

[Sauropsidian]

Haha yeah I do a lot if I'm comfortable.

Usually I do little wavy gestures with both of my hands when struggling to articulate something and draw invisible shapes when I'm explaining things

 

[Mad Hatter]

That just sounds so wrong somehow.

Hey, it's still better than to be all stiff and cocky!

 

[Fidelia]

My eyebrows gesticulate wildly, but that's about all!

 

[WoodsWoman]

Add in two semesters of American Sign Language - so I end up talking to myself a lot...

 

[One Day]

That just sounds so wrong somehow.

I don't think you want to see it when I'm excited.

 

[Seymour]

I don't think I'm that gesture-enabled as a rule (and thanks for making me uncomfortable at work today, since I was self-consciously observing myself). But I find I'll do what it takes to communicate with the people around me.

This is a weird analogy, but I realized after explaining a technical design to a coworker today that the end visible result was just squiggles with a few words on a white board. It was much like my Pictionary drawings (Remember that game? Yes, I'm over 40. Thanks for pointing that out.) I remember playing with an artist friend of mine. He was actually far slower than I was, because he would be representational and would start drawing in a way that made for a good final result. I would draw a mess, but in a way that communicated what I was drawing as I was doing it. In a way, those drawings are just gestures captured in ink.

I think I tend to gesture and be animated when it seems to communicate to the other person, but otherwise I'm fairly still and minimal. I think I also tend to mimic the style of the person I'm communicating with to some degree, but only in the moment.

Sorry to be a little long-winded, but that's the price you pay for making me awkward because I'm observing myself at work.

 

[Lacey]

If I'm around people I don't know well, or I'm feeling socially awkward (which is pretty much all the time), I barely move at all.

Otherwise, I do talk with my hands.

I gesture more if I'm excited about what I'm talking about.

I also tend to gesture more if I'm explaining something. Like my gestures will help get my point across or something...but really, it's probably just more distracting.

 

[Yloh]

I use a ton of gestures when I talk. I believe it is because I am such a visual person and me expressing my ideas with my hands can help me see what I am talking about. Strangely, it makes me feel like I'm helping the other person understand what I am talking about by painting a picture for them with my hands.

 

[OrangeAppled]

If I'm around people I don't know well, or I'm feeling socially awkward (which is pretty much all the time), I barely move at all.

I do that too actually...my hands are as quiet as I am when I am shy.

I would draw a mess, but in a way that communicated what I was drawing as I was doing it. In a way, those drawings are just gestures captured in ink.

I used to draw stuff out to explain things to people also, even if it was messy and abstract. I'm more verbal now than I used to be though.

 

[Rebe]

Yup, yup. I feel that my hands are an extension of my voice. I need them to emphasize my point. Also, I have this weird desire to scribble when I talk too, to scribble down all kinds of words, adjectives, that comes to mind. It is easier for me to keep track of what I am saying.

 

[A window to the soul]

hmm yes and no, it depends how engaged in the conversation i am.

Yes, sometimes that's me.

 

[Tiltyred]

I was told my eyebrows fly all over my face. Aside from that, though, no gesticulating. I try to keep my hands quiet.

 

[Amargith]

To the OP:

yes

To the point where it's dangerous to stand near me when I'm going on about something..