Pop star Gwen Stefani is a newcomer to the panel of judges on NBC’s hit show, The Voice, but she has spent more than two decades doing what she does best—performing on stage. Stefani joins fellow coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Pharrell Williams who all fight to attract the best singers to their team. If you haven’t seen the show, the “blind auditions” begin with coaches’ backs facing the singer. If they like what they hear, they hit a button, and the chair turns to face the singer. If more than one judge turns around, they compete to represent the singer.

“Once these chairs turn, it’s not just about your voice anymore. It’s about your stage presence, too,” Stefani told one contestant. Stefani has commented on stage presence several times in the first two weeks of the new season and, interestingly, makes the comment when a singer has a great voice but lacks pizzazz on stage. In one episode Stefani left her chair and leaped on stage to demonstrate how she engages an audience with her body language.

Gwen Stefani knows that a successful performer must have the total package—voice and presence. The same advice applies to public speaking. As an executive communication coach I spend the majority of time on the story that spokesperson wants to tell about a company, product, or initiative. But once the narrative is crafted, it needs to be delivered and the performance takes the spotlight. A killer performance has many elements, of course. A speaker must work on verbal delivery (pacing, enunciation, inflection) and body language. Since there are far too many components of a masterful stage presence to reveal in a short article, let me offer just one tip that will help you command an audience in your very next presentation.

The Power Sphere. Our body language expert at Gallo Communications Group calls this technique, “The Power Sphere.” It works like this. Stretch your arms out as far as they’ll go to each side. Picture your power sphere as a circle that runs from the top of your eyes, out to the tips of your outstretched hands, down to your naval, and back up to your eyes again. Use the entire zone to make your gestures, which will give an impression of confidence, energy and “power.”

If you hang your hands below your navel, outside of the power sphere, you will be perceived as meek, timid, and low-energy. Keeping your gestures expansive and within the power sphere projects energy, confidence, and power. Remember, a shorter person will have a smaller power sphere than a taller person. Be aware of how big your sphere is and use all the space.

The best way to learn about the power sphere is to look at photographs of speakers who do it well. I placed two pictures below. The first is Darren Hardy, the publisher of SUCCESS magazine. The second is Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg during a television interview. Each is considered an excellent public speaker in their topic domain and is said to have strong “stage presence.” You’ll see that each speaker is using expansive gestures (palms up, arms wide) that are within their power sphere. Sandberg is doing so even while she’s seated, demonstrating that the power sphere doesn’t change whether you’re standing or sitting.

Darren Hardy, Publisher, Success Magazine Photo Courtesy of Darren Hardy

Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook

For speakers, keeping hand gestures in the power sphere is the single best way to have a commanding presence when delivering a pitch or a presentation. Singers on The Voice who have a fantastic vocal quality might make it through the first rounds, but eventually the public will vote and those singers will need more than a good voice to stand out from the competition. The same applies to your next presentation. You can have a great story and beautifully designed slides, but if you lack ‘stage presence’ you’ll fail to make the strongest connection possible. Use your power sphere to win over your audience.