In short: Keep your hands fully in frame or fully out of it. Half in, half out is the most distracting option, because the eye keeps catching the movement at the edge. Use open hands in front of you for a presenting shot, or rest them below the desk line for a talking head. Check the playback with the sound off to see where they actually go.
Most people on camera do not have a hand problem. They have an edge problem. The hands slip to the bottom of the frame, disappear, come back, and the viewer's eye follows them every time. Pick one of two positions before you press record, and keep to it for the whole take.
Option one: hands in frame
Use this when the shot shows you from the waist up or wider, with a lectern, a table or a clear stance. Keep both hands inside the shot, below the chest and well clear of the edges. Open palms read better than closed fists.
Keep gestures slow and deliberate, and compact enough to stay inside the shot, because small quick movements look like fidgeting on screen. Make each gesture land on the word it supports, then return the hands to a resting place. A gesture that hangs in the air for the whole sentence becomes a second thing for the viewer to watch.
Option two: hands out of frame
For a head-and-shoulders shot, rest your hands in your lap or on the desk below the bottom of the frame. Check the framing on the monitor so you know the desk edge sits below the shot. If you cannot see your hands at all, you are less likely to fidget with them. Keep a glass of water or a notebook within reach so the resting hand has a job, and so it is not hovering over the keyboard.
Your hands still matter when they are out of shot. Say a sentence aloud with your hands moving the way they would across a table, then keep that same energy when they are resting. The voice carries the movement even when the camera does not.
Check it in two minutes
- Record 30 seconds of you talking about something you know well, with your hands doing what they normally do.
- Watch it back with the sound off.
- Count how many times a hand crosses the edge of the frame or leaves it.
- Pick the position that gave fewer crossings, then record again.
Mistakes to avoid
- Holding a pen, a phone or a mug at the edge of the frame.
- Letting the elbows sit on the desk while the hands float at the bottom.
- Raising the hands to the face when you are making a point.
- Clasping them at the waist, which can look stiff on screen.
Eye line and framing change how your hands look, so read eye contact with a lens and framing yourself alongside this page. If you read from an autocue, how to read an autocue covers where your hands go when the script is on the lens.
Related guides
- Eye contact with a lens: arrows, eyeline and the window
- Framing yourself on camera: headroom and distance
- Being 10% more than you on camera, 20% on stage
- Facial expression on camera
- How to read an autocue without looking like you're reading
- All guides and tools
The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.
Questions we get asked
Where should my hands be when I am on camera?
Either fully in frame, with open hands below the chest and well inside the edges, or fully out of frame, resting below the bottom of the shot. Avoid letting them cross the edge.
Should I use my hands when presenting on video?
Yes. Using your hands tends to put energy into your voice even when the audience cannot see them, so keep them moving naturally rather than locking them still.
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