[whpalmer4]

With the cursor somewhere over the shape, press the trackpad button down, do not release it, and use other fingers to move the shape around. Should work fine at any zoom level, with Magic TrackPad or built-in trackpad. With Magic Mouse or regular mouse, press the mouse button and drag the mouse around.

Think of it as actually sticking a handle on the shape and dragging it...

Note: I don't believe in the "One Finger Tap to Click" setting available for the built-in trackpad. If you have it turned on, good luck to you, my suggestions may not be ideal.