I have been told in one too many public speaking classes that it is rude to point your finger at someone while talking to them. I disagree. Pointing your finger at someone is an effective technique to gain their attention. Why is that? Because it triggers some level of anxiety. When you point your finger at someone, you are showing a form of aggression. Someone who interprets that as such will begin to feel scared because they know they did something wrong and that someone just found out. And when someone begins to feel fear, they try to become more aware of the source.

When I feel like calling out someone’s bullshit, I will most likely point my finger at them. I see them tense up with shock in their face as they try to blurt out whatever unprepared response they have when they receive their accusation. And because it’s unprepared, they will probably say whatever response comes from their brain first, contradicting themselves with lies or weak excuses that will of course be pointed out by me and my finger. With my finger pointing at them, I pierce into their very soul.  This works even better when that person is singled-out in a crowd of people, because then they feel even more anxiety gets generated as they feel the eyes fixed on them.

Pointing your finger at someone while you talk to them shows that you have no fear in confronting them and is guaranteed to generate results in getting someones attention as you break their spirit.