make the speaker more interesting, more real. they show that you care. so be easy on yourself and good to your audience; let the hands do what they want to do, but don’t hide them from view.
another point: when our hands are folded in our laps, we tend to slouch our shoulders and hunch our backs. weak impression.
third—focus your eyes on one person.
focus your eyes on one person at a time when you speak. when you come to a natural break in your comment, pause and take a breath while moving to another person. that way you look much more confident and you will be able to read your audience 