What's exactly the point of hand gestures?

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Aspies are plagued by the whole body language thing. Took me a few years to really get it down. Posture. Hand gestures that are relevant to what I'm saying.

But..... I still don't understand the POINT of hand gestures while speaking. Aren't they distracting? Aren't they superfluous, because you're already saying what you mean?

Still don't get the point.

I use hand gestures when I talk but in an exaggerated way. In fact, I am a bit of a caricature of myself since my expression and gestures can be a bit too exaggerated from time to time
What's the point of mine? No point, really. To me, it's like stimming. Maybe, it calms me while I am talking, helps me keep momentum in my speeches.

Emphasis. They probably give an NT something stimulating that catches their attention while being spoken to. They give me a distraction that I have to ignore, or I won't catch what the person is saying.

Well vulgar hand gestures are pretty clear, I should think.

They help me get words out of my mouth clearly, especially the fist pummeling the desk type. Not sure what they do for everyone else though.
The stranglehold is another favourite one. It shows people that I am displeased with them.

I use a lot of hand gestures. Actually, not just hand gestures. Full body gestures may be more appropriate (though sounds kind of ... odd)

Usually when I'm not speaking.

Physical gestures/movements are good for getting your point across without having to figure out the words and have them get stuck on the way out, I find.

Maybe I should become a mime artist.

When I speak, I don't use many gestures.