SF Inspiration #8: Microanalysis Interactional Fact #1

About co-speech gestures

Did you know that the so-called “body language” and our spoken language are not separate channels? In fact, the co-speech gestures we use – mainly our hand gestures, facial gestures, and gaze – are making remarkable contributions when we are talking. They are precisely timed with our words and add content to the dialogue.

A lot of the popular science literature suggests that body language is separate from spoken language and not part of it. Looking at conversations with Microanalysis of Face-to-Face Dialogue suggests something different.

Co-speech gestures work in conjunction with our speech

The picture above shows an example of that:

Spoken text: And I talked to her about it.
Hand gesture: on the telephone

Looking at both, the spoken text AND the hand gesture we see that “I talked to her about it on the telephone”. The information “on the telephone” would not be available without the hand gesture.

Possible implications for our conversation practice

Knowing that co-speech gestures work in conjunction with our speech and add meaning to the dialogue makes a difference. In our conversations, we can deliberately

• include the gesture in your next formulation or question (e.g. “What difference did it make that you talked to her about it?” and repeating the gesture while you say “talked to her”), i.e. preserve the gesture exactly;
• when the meaning seems clear: take up the gesture and use the words instead (e.g. the co-speech gesture on the picture above “What difference did it make that you talked to her on the telephone?”), i.e. preserve the gesture in an altered form;
• decide to not refer to the gesture, i.e. omit the gesture.

With Microanalysis of Face-to-Face dialogue, we can see and observe how this interplay works.

Want to learn more? 

Join our 4-week online course „Translating Microanalysis of Face-to-Face Dialogue into Solution-Focused Practice“ in English and in German.

In this online course, you learn how to observe your conversations in this very specific, interactional way. Join us and find out how you can co-construct meaningful dialogues, and become a better observer of your conversations.