EYE CONTACT – all about the ‘I’s

You’ve probably heard the expression “the eyes have it”, and when it comes on to verbal communication in the Western world, that happens to be true. The eyes are not only the windows of the soul, they can also be elevators to the mind – the mind of your audience. Proper eye contact will enhance immeasurably your presentation, adding to your credibility, holding your audience’s attention, increasing their comfort level, and ultimately aiding understanding and acceptance of your presentation.

Here are some basic tips to help you get the ‘EYE’-deal contact. It really is all about the ‘I’s

Initiate eye contact – do not be afraid to look at the people to whom you are speaking. If at first you are a little shy, look in the general eye area, perhaps between the eyes instead, then work your way towards the eyes themselves. Do not look above the audience towards the back of the room. They will know the difference.

Intermittent is best – do not ‘stare down’ a person – that is the other extreme and is rude. Usually about 3 -5 seconds is good enough, then move the connection to someone else.
Note however - In some cultures avoiding eye contact is actually a mark of respect.

Include as many persons as possible – spread the eye contact around the room. Look at some persons in the front, some to the left, some to the right, some to the back. If you are nervous or uncomfortable, start with the more friendly faces, but make sure you don’t stay with them alone. You must move the eye contact around the group.

Impress upon the audience your points by holding the eye contact at the end of the phrase or point. This drives the point home. When delivering a joke, hold eye contact for the punch line.

Identify Problems in the audience and respond to what you see. Does someone look puzzled? Perhaps you need to explain some more. Is someone falling asleep? Direct a comment to them to bring them back. Is there a heckler causing a problem? Intimidate him with a pointed stare.

Proper eye contact with your audience will bring the audience closer to you. Do not be afraid of the intimacy, use what you see to build your confidence and lower the barriers between you and them. In the end you will achieve the ‘EYE’-deal – a great presentation.

1 comment February 19th, 2007

FAKE IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT

A large part of your speech presentation does not depend on your actual speaking ability.

What you say and how you say it, is greatly enhanced by your physical appearance.
Do you look Confident? Trustworthy? Authoritative? Professional?
If you do, then half the battle is won, If you don’t, your speaking task is made so much harder. I get nervous before every presentation I have to make – no matter how many times I’ve done it before. The thing is I don’t let anyone see.

The last time I showed nervousness during a presentation was when I completely lost it during an election speech while running for office in Key Club. Even now I get embarrassed just thinking about it. I lost that election, but won an important lesson. I learned how to FAKE IT. And it worked. BIG TIME. Now when I’m up on stage in front of thousands of people, I’m calm, cool and collected – or at least it darn well looks that way. This air of calm and confidence helps me centre myself and focus the energy from the nervousness into my presentation. Pretty soon, all nervousness is gone.

Even if you are nervous and unsure during a presentation, there should be nothing that gives this away to the audience. So go on out there and pretend to be the most confident speaker ever. Hide all evidence of your nervousness, and guess what. If you pretend often enough – pretty soon it’s not pretending anymore. After a while that mask of confidence becomes your real demeanour – and you probably won’t even realize when the change happened.

1 comment February 16th, 2007