Why do people put so much importance on body language? Everyone has a certain bias but i am constantly amazed at how a video mentioning body language will get thousands of views while a video giving good public speaking tips will end up getting only ten views. Similarly body language books sell ten times more and faster than public speaking books. Why is that?
I think this is because it seems fun and different. People view body language as something that is fun and different and can be used to make things happen with the opposite sex. Btu it is essentially a good way to distract you from what you actually should be focusing on which is making your story come alive through stories instead of trying to not move your hands, which is a myth by the way.
Is body language important? Yes. But you can have the best body language in the world, but with a boring and useless speech, you will achieve nothing in the end. You should definitely practice on video to get your body language right but that is just the beginning of the process. What you really need to focus on is your message.