Great eye contact can make or break a presentation. Lots of speakers have terrible eye contact skills. They look at their slides. They look at their notes. They look at the floor, ceiling, or off into space. Many speakers would rather look anywhere rather than make eye contact.
There is also some questionable but well-intended advice that circulates like “look over listeners’ heads” or “only look at people you know.”
This advice may help a little we should strive for what professional-level speakers do. In other words, if you want to get better, you have to practice good fundamentals.
First, attempt to look directly at somebody in the audience about 99% of the time you are speaking. When you look at your notes or your slides, just glance for a moment and bounce right back and look directly at somebody.
Second, look at each person long enough to finish a sentence or a thought. If you look into their eyes for about this long, they will feel a connection. Then you can move on to the next person for about a sentence.
Watch the video for more details and tips.
Originally published at: https://youtu.be/bHblBfPy5qU