Eye Contact

Owl with big eyes

Eye contact is one of the most important forms of non-verbal communication, especially for speakers.  Have you ever had to endure a speaker who read from the lectern, or talked to the PowerPoint slides, or stared at the cue cards in his hand, or basically looked anywhere but at the audience?  How exciting was that?

Not looking at your audience is an almost surefire way to lose people’s attention.  Maintaining eye contact, on the other hand, strengthens the bond between speaker and audience.  It conveys (in most cases) sincerity and tells the audience that the speaker is interested in them.

Make sure that you move your eyes around the audience at an even rate – not too fast, not too slow.  A good rule of thumb is to spend 3-4 seconds looking at one person and then move on to someone else.

If you are speaking to a small audience, be sure to look at each person.  If you are speaking to a large audience, you will not be able to make eye contact with everyone.  Instead, focus on sections of the room: front, middle and back – don’t forget the people way in the back!  And be sure to look at people along each side of the room.

Do not to spend too much time looking at one person.  It will likely make that person feel uncomfortable and will probably annoy others in the audience who think you are neglecting them.  Be egalitarian and spread it around!

For those who feel uncomfortable making eye contact with strangers, Lisa Braithwaite has an effective and simple suggestion: greet some of the people at the door and get to know them a little.  That way, when you start your talk, not everyone will be a stranger and you will have some friendly faces looking back.

Of course, keeping those faces friendly will depend on the content and delivery of your presentation.  But that’s another story . . .

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mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

  1. Great tips, John! I just watched a speaker the other day who looked down at the floor or his notes through most of the presentation. It makes a speaker look uncertain, tentative, and sometimes even shifty. Get those eyes up!
    And thanks for linking to my blog!

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John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

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CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

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Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

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Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

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World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

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HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

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National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

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CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

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Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

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Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

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Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International