Desmond Morris - 2002 - Peoplewatching - The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language (poor quality-double page)(290p) [Inua]

BATON SIGNALS
BATON SIGNALS
Actions that emphasize the rhythm of words
Baton Signals beat time to the rhythm of spoken thoughts. Their
essential role is to mark the points of emphasis in our speech, and
they are so much an integral part of our verbal delivery that we
sometimes gesticulate even when talking on the telephone.
Batons account for the bulk of the gesticulations that accompany
conversation or public speaking. An animated speaker's
hands are seldom still, but flick, swish and dip as he conducts the
'music' of his words. He is only half conscious of these movements.
He knows his hands are active, but ask him for an exact
description of his Baton Signals and he will be unable to give it.
He will admit to 'waving his hands about', but there the description
will end. Show him a film of himself batoning to his speech
and he will be surprised to see that his hands perform a veritable
ballet of airborne movements and shifting postures.
It is these posture changes that are of special interest. If Baton
Signals did no more than beat time to words there would be little
to say about them. But each time-beat is performed with the hand
in a particular position and these positions vary from occasion to
occasion, from person to person, and from culture to culture.
The beating of the hand says: 'This is the point I am making, and
this, and this.' The posture of the beating hand says:'... and this
is the mood in which I am making these points'. It is possible to
make a detailed classification of these beating postures and then
to study their natural history in the field. Here are some of the
most important types:
1. The Vacuum Precision-grip. The human hand has two basic
holding actions - the precision-grip and the power-grip. In the
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precision-grip it is the tips of the thumb and fingers that are
used; in the power-grip the whole hand is involved. We employ
the precision-grip when holding small objects delicately and
manipulating them with accuracy, as when writing or threading
a needle. When batoning during speech, we often adopt a
precision-grip hand posture, even though the hand in question is
empty. In other words, we perform the precision-grip in vacuo.
This form of baton reflects an urge on the part of the speaker to
express himself delicately and with great exactness. His hand
emphasizes the fineness of the points he is stressing.
There are two popular versions of the Vacuum Precision-grip:
the Hand Purse and the Thumb-and-forefmger Touch. In the
Hand Purse the tips of all five digits are brought together until they
touch in a tight circle, like the mouth of a string-closed purse.
In the Thumb-and-forefinger Touch, the tips of only these two
digits are brought into contact with each other. This appears to
be the most popular form of the Vacuum Precision-grip, requiring
slightly less muscular effort than the Hand Purse.
2. The Intention Precision-grip. In this baton posture, the hand
makes the intention movement of delicately taking hold of an
imaginary, small object, but does not follow the action through
to the point where the thumb-tip and fingertips meet. It is an Air
Hold posture and the mood it reflects is more one of a quest for
precision than precision itself. There is usually an element of
questioning or uncertainty on the part of the gesticulator, as if he
is searching for 'something. The hand, beating the air, almost
closes on the answer, but not quite.
3. The Vacuum Power-grip. We employ the power-grip for crude,
forceful manipulations such as grasping or hammering. The
digits are curled tightly around the held object. When this is done
in vacuo, the result, in mild cases, is a bent hand and, in strong
cases, a tight fist.
In the Hand Bend posture the curled fingers only lightly touch
the palm. This is a rather insipid baton posture, reflecting neither
precision of thought, nor forcefulness. The Tight Fist, in contrast,
although it lacks delicacy, does signal considerable determination
and strength of thought.
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