Four Moves That Transform Technical Communication

You stand up to speak and realise you’re doing that move again with your hands.

You’re wondering why you don’t have a wider ‘gestural vocabulary’.

And if you’ve read this piece on gestures,, you know how important they are as a second channel for communication.

Moreover, if you’re speaking to those unfamiliar with your material – be it in a meeting or presentation – they’ll need gestures for clarity.

The Power of Structural Gestures

When it comes to how to move, this study reveals the specific types of gesture that make technical concepts crystal clear even with non-technical listeners.

The gestures that will help translate your ideas regardless of knowledge are called structural gestures.

Structural gestures typically do one or more of the following:

1. Represent static features (shape, layout, number, grouping)
2. Show relationships (contrast, hierarchy, categories)
3. Help the listener build a mental map of the system or concept
4. Do not simulate motion or mechanism

The Four Key Structural Gestures

Here are four gestures all fall into this family and that you can use today.

1. Counting gestures (finger itemising)

• Emphasise number, sequence, and discrete units
• Partition information into stable, memorable chunks
• Help non‑experts track components, categories, or key points

2. Ladder gesture (steps in a process)

• Represent ordered structure rather than movement
• Show hierarchy or progression without implying mechanical action
• Useful for explaining workflows, procedures, or multi‑stage systems

3. Boxes gesture (discrete independent items)

• Create spatial containers for separate concepts or components
• Help audiences understand boundaries, independence, and modularity
• A common structural gesture in clear technical communication

4. Anchoring gesture (contrasting ideas placed in different spatial locations)

• Establish spatial contrast between two aspects, options, or categories
• Help audiences map differences onto physical space
• Particularly effective for comparisons or trade‑off explanations

These gestures highlight what the parts are, how they are organised, and how ideas relate spatially, rather than showing how something moves or operates.

Your Action Step:

As your imparting information to others, in-person or virtually, use any of the following to keep them with you:

1. Counting
2. Ladder
3. Boxing
4. Anchoring

For technical specialists, this makes them especially powerful when explaining systems, processes, or concepts to people who don’t yet have a mental model of the domain.

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