If a speaker has intense body communication I usually assume that they are very passionate about their speech topic, and I think passion is a really good thing to show when public speaking. I usually think of the speaker as more credible, and they also are usually better at keeping people's attention. It's also difficult to keep people's attention if the speaker doesn't seem interested in what they're talking about. I believe having good body communication is essential if you want to improve your credibility and keep your audience's attention. Obviously you want to make sure you don't go overboard with gestures, but using the right amount could definitely help you in the long run.
I totally agree with you that the more body language a speaker uses is correlated with the more passionate they are. I loved your response! Great job, Nora!