Those "lightning bolts" you're seeing have nothing to do with Area Damage, that's Nephalem Glory. It's a tiny bit of additional damage (something pathetic like 100% weapon damage) and movement speed (10% at rank 2 and 3) you get for picking up Power Globes.
From what I've read Exploding Palm has all sorts of issues with Area Damage and basically doesn't work with it at all unless you applied the Exploding Palm manually (ie: you spent spirit putting it on a target).
Those "lightning bolts" you're seeing have nothing to do with Area Damage, that's Nephalem Glory. It's a tiny bit of additional damage (something pathetic like 100% weapon damage) and movement speed (10% at rank 2 and 3) you get for picking up Power Globes.
From what I've read Exploding Palm has all sorts of issues with Area Damage and basically doesn't work with it at all unless you applied the Exploding Palm manually (ie: you spent spirit putting it on a target).