Noticing how a person can communicate a full story using only body movement and facial expression.
Exploring how physical cues such as posture, gesture, and eye movement can show what someone is thinking or feeling.
Noticing how the audience reads the body langugage and responds without any spoken words.
Thinking about how much information we can share and receive without using speech.
Comedian Rowan Atkinson walks onto a stage dressed as a janitor and begins sweeping. He stumbles across an invisible drum kit and reacts with surprise, gradually exploring the space around him to find each drum and cymbal. He sits on a stool and begins playing the invisible drums, using his hands, arms, feet, and whole body to match real drum sounds played offstage. Throughout the performance, his facial expressions and body shift between confusion, concentration, delight, and frustration. The sketch ends with an increasingly elaborate drum solo.
• What did you notice about how Rowan Atkinson used his body to tell the story?
• How could you tell what he was feeling at different moments in the clip?
• Which part of his body told us the most about what was happening?
• How do you use your body to show how you are feeling?
• In what ways do you communicate that does not use speech?
• What might it feel like to only be able to use body language to get your message across?
The questions within this guide are designed to open dialogue and facilitate discussion around the relevant topics. It is up to the user to adapt as needed to best suit the person they are supporting. A neuroaffirming approach was central to the design of these resources and remains essential to their application. This means recognising and respecting the diverse ways people think, communicate, and experience the world, ensuring all conversations are led with curiosity, respect, and without judgement. These resources are a starting point. Trust your knowledge of the person you are supporting to shape the conversation from there.
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