#8. Not Making Eye Contact With Audience
This mistake was shared with me by an audience member. It is a request that I get from audience members and that is, What is the best way to make eye contact with an audience during a presentation? This is a good question because done wrong can distract an audience or accomplished correctly can make an incredible connection very quickly.
I just had the fun of judging a speech competition for several junior high schools. I saw some great examples of what some people have been taught about eye contact. Some of the speakers
looked at the back wall. You could see their eyes but it was clear they weren't connecting with anyone. Others made you think they were at a tennis match. They jumped back and forth over and over, once again not making contact.
So what is the solution? Well I hinted at it in the previous examples, it is making a connnection with the audience. The secret is to talk to people one at a time. No matter how large my audience I am only talking to one person at a time. Look at someone and tell them one sentence or a thought and then move on. If you stay with one person too long they may feel uncomfortable at being singled out. You should be aware that you are actually looking at a person and making contact with their eyes.
This helps make connection with an audience in many ways. First, those who you are connecting with feel you are talking to them and you actually are. Second, other people further back in a large audience sense you are talking to fellow audience members so they feel connected. Just as I sensed the one speaker speaking to the wall you can sense when the presenter is speaking to people.
These are just a few short tips on eye contact and I hope they are useful. If you really want to make connection with an audience I would encourage you to consider joining me October 8th, 9th, and 10th in Las Vegas for my Dynamic Safety Meetings Institute. Every year I share with a select group of safety people how to make their safety meetings truly effective. They have shared with me the huge impact it has made on their effectiveness. This is always new material I do not teach in my regular communication skills sessions. Take a moment to call Sandie Gilbert toll free at 1-866-373-2464 or 209-747-2770 or go to our website at
http://www.drebinger.com/page/page26.html Please note, if you send more than one person from one company you get a reduced rate. By the way, the best time to reach Sandie is 7:30am to 8:45am Pacific Daylight time.
I hope to see you there.
Have a dynamically safe day,
John Drebinger
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