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In chapter 13, we noted the central role that nonverbal expressions play in communication. In a face-to-face speech, audience members can observe the full range of your nonverbal behaviors.15 In a mediated presentation, however, this is less likely, especially when the camera is in a fixed position. For example, if you are being filmed from the waist up, the audience will have a better view of your hand and facial gestures, but the camera may not capture expansive hand gestures. Similarly, if you are using a fixed camera, you will lose the opportunity for larger movements. Thus, you would not be able to move closer to the audience to emphasize a key point, or move a few steps in either direction to signify a transition.
Mediated presentations also alter how listeners see and interpret your nonverbal messages. For example, the flat images of facial gestures that appear on a screen are not the same as the ones that would be perceived in a three-dimensional face-to-face environment.16