Traditionally, visual bodily movements have been associated with the communication of affect and emotion. In recent decades, studies have convincingly demonstrated that bodily movements do not only convey affect and emotions but that they also carry semantic information and contribute to the communication of propositional information. In this talk, I will throw light on the pragmatic contribution that visual bodily movements make in conversation. In doing so, I will focus on fundamental processes that are key in achieving mutual understanding in talk: producing recipient-designed messages, signalling understanding, trouble in understanding and repairing problems in understanding. The bodily semiotic resources that speakers use in engaging in these pragmatic processes include a wide range of bodily articulators, but in my talk I will focus on representational gestures (iconics and points) and facial signals. Together, the results demonstrate that when we engage in conversational interaction our bodies act as core coordination devices.