Repeat Gesturing: 3 Tips For Stronger Body Language

This past weekend I attended When Words Collide and gave my first official author presentation on Showing Emotion Through Nonverbal Communication (Body Language, Visceral Responses and Thoughts). The turnout was amazing--a full house. Every chair was taken and people had to stand along the wall or sit on the floor (and they did. Ahh! I love writers!)



I will admit to being nervous (really, really nervous). I may or may not have actually practiced the entire slideshow presentation in my car beforehand (sorry to those people packing up their car at the hotel--I know you thought a crazy lady had parked next to you, talking and gesturing to herself). But here's the deal, it was awesome. I loved presenting, and I love this topic of body language. It was a blast to be in a room full of writers who all struggled in this area, and to (hopefully) provide some good ideas on how to get past those emotion-showing struggles.



I also gave a workshop on Blogging and Platform as well, and moderated a panel for Self Promotion Do's and Don'ts which allowed me to work with some very savvy social media people. The organizers put on a fantastic event, and I recommend it to anyone living in Calgary and area. You can't beat the price either: $65 dollars for a three day event, including a bookstore filled with tables and tables of delicious stories to devour. The Emotion Thesaurus was there as well, and completely sold out!



The best part of the weekend, however? Meeting some of you! I ran into quite a few Musers, and what an honor. It's always such a treat to connect with people in the real world that you interact with online. So many of the writers  who visit us at The Bookshelf Muse live in the US, so it's so nice to also discover writers right in my own backyard here in Canada.



One of the thing I touched on in my presentation is repeat gesturing, and the techniques we can use to dig deeper and create unique, fresh description for emotion instead. I am thrilled to be at New York Times Best Selling Author Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog today, discussing these same tips! So if you missed the conference, swing on by and check them out...and meet my dog Sasha while you're at it!



Did I mention there's a copy of The Emotion Thesaurus up for grabs, too? See you there!