The hands are a dead giveaway in presentations as well as in effective communication generally. A clammy, weak handshake sends completely the wrong message to someone you are meeting for the first time. Similarly, indecisive or non-existent hand gestures in a presentation give the impression that you lack confidence or are unsure of what you're saying. And over-the-top or inappropriate gestures can be off-putting or devalue what you're saying. But what can you do with your hands while presenting?

Firstly, you need a neutral resting position to come back to and from where you can deliver confident, definite hand gestures with ease. Where should that be? Hands behind the back give a rather over-formal impression like a school teacher or policeman. Meanwhile, hands in the pockets can appear too informal. We all know that crossing your arms closes you off from your audience and makes you seem dismissive.

One effective neutral position can be arms simply down by the side, however some people find it uncomfortable to just leave them hanging. The best resting position for most people is to have hands resting lightly against one another approximately in front of the naval. This position is in fact often used by professional news and television presenters and avoids the 'fig leaf' or 'footballers' pose! From here, your hands can easily move up, down, or sideways in gestures.

Gestures themselves should be used to illustrate your points and should punctuate what you're saying. This helps to add interest to your presentation and keep your audience engaged. Effective public speaking training or coaching will help you to learn to gesture in a way that appears natural and that enhances your presentation rather than detracting from it.

It can be extremely helpful to watch yourself on film delivering a presentation and to receive feedback from a trainer and peers. That way, you'll be able to see whether you're gesturing wildly, keeping too still, or have in fact got this part of your effective public speaking skills just right.

Those who present effectively are able to combine a suite of different presentation skills and bring them all together in a way that appears confident and professional. At the same time, they appear natural, rather than like a performer or actor. It can be difficult when you're starting out to remember everything: hands, eyes, what you're saying, how you say it.

It all comes down to practice, feedback and more practice. Over time, your confidence will increase and these effective public speaking skills will come naturally.