EYE CONTACT
If you regularly present to rooms of a couple dozen or more, you've probably had the experience of someone coming up to you afterwards saying how much they enjoyed your talk. Meanwhile you're looking at them wondering where they were hiding because you're absolutely certain you never saw them until this instant.
The issue here is eye contact. Most presenters have no trouble creating sincere eye contact when they're one on one with someone. But as the number of people increases unusual behaviors begin to emerge.

Sitting around a conference table can be a real challenge. Making contact with the person sitting right next to you can feel like some bizarre yoga position. Even if you're sitting well forward at the table, there may be someone on your side leaning back. You won't be able to see them unless you're in a hall of mirrors.

But what happens when you do make contact with the other person? How long are you in their eyes? Normally, people maintain eye contact for less and less time as the number of people in the room increases. If there's a dozen or more, most presenters seem to have their eyes wired to some radar scanning program.

As you think about eye contact for yourself, give yourself two challenges.

First, tell yourself that you're going to increase the amount of time you look at each person. Don't allow your eyes to move to someone else until you've reached an internal count of at least "three-Mississippi." Five Mississippi’s are even better.

Second, play a game with yourself. Promise yourself some reward if, by the end of your presentation, you can describe what everyone in the room is wearing. The point isn't to make you into some fashion maven, but to force you to actually look at each person and register them consciously.

Whether you're in a room of one hundred people or just two, looking each person in the eye is critical to establishing trust. The truth is simple: unless your eye contact with each person is prolonged and sincere, you can't succeed as a communicator.

 

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