The power of Gestures and space in nonverbal communication

The following video illustrates how effective communicators use gestures and the physical spaces around them to communicate their message at a deeper and more effective level


Illustrating the power further, this video of Hanity & Colmes interviewing a man they strongly disagree with shows us how using gestural and linguistic tactics can have the effect of exercising power over an opponent and knocking him "off balance," and also to subconsciously persuade the audience. The narrator does a good job, but he misses some more powerful and subtle tactics and (Though I don't agree with the narrator's assertion that Hannity was using satanic hand signals... though I have seen Lady Gaga intentionally do that.)
It's important to note that most people who use such tactics aren't consciously using them. Much like learning how to ride a bike, they've learned how to do it seamlessly and unconsciously by practice and modeling other people who use such tactics successfully. It's also important to realize that even though you may believe you're a very rational person, these tactics have an effect upon you at a PRE-conscious level. This is unavoidable, no matter how smart you are. Information is processed in the nervous system from the bottom up. This means that older areas of the brain which we share with our mammalian and reptilian ancestors receive and process information first, before the highly-evolved frontal lobes which make us human get a chance to process the information. By that time, the lower levels of the brain have already reacted. There is no way around this. There is only the option to train yourself to recognize what is going on and to become aware of the way your body and nervous system react.