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.20 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 see your facial expressions and most of your hand gestures, but the camera may not capture large arm gestures. Similarly, if you are using a fixed camera, your opportunities for moving around will be limited. 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.21
