Eye Contact-Public Speaking

Hello Readers,

Greetings!

Today I have gone through an interesting article in one of the leading personality development magazines, here I am sharing an interesting article on Eye Contact in Public Speaking!

As we all know, public speaking is an art and one of the important functions in the Management. Being in management field we all have been experiencing the importance and the impact of effective public speaking skills which directly relates to our career and personality. Public speaking is mainly used for Inform, Influence or entertain the listening audience and mainly use to persuade the audience.

In this post I am not attempting to write a theory on Public speaking, but would like to write  few points on Eye Contact and its impact in Public speaking.

When you're in front of an audience, strategic eye contact has the power to change how people think of you. Here's why.

 

Here are 10 reasons why presenters should look at people, one at a time, when addressing an audience of any size.

1. Focusing your eyes helps you concentrate. When your eyes wander, they take in random, extraneous images that are sent to your brain, slowing it down.
2. When you fail to make eye contact with your listeners, you look less authoritative, less believable, and less confident.
3. When you don't look people in the eye, they are less likely to look at you. And when they stop looking at you, they start thinking about something other than what you're saying, and when that happens, they stop listening.
4. When you look someone in the eye, he or she is more likely to look at you, more likely to listen to you, and more likely to buy you and your message.
5. When you look a person in the eye, you communicate confidence and belief in your point of view. One of the most powerful means of communicating confidence and conviction is sustained, focused eye contact.
6. Sustained, focused eye contact makes you feel more confident and act more assertively. It may feel weird at first, but when you practice, it becomes a habit that gives you power.
7. When your listeners see your eyes scanning their faces, they feel invited to engage with you. They feel encouraged to signal to you how they feel about what you're saying--with nods, frowns, or skeptical raisings of their eyebrows.
8. As a result, your listeners are transformed from passive receivers to active participants. Your monologue takes the form of a dialogue, albeit one in which you speak words while they speak with gestures and facial expressions. Your speech or presentation is suddenly a conversation.
9. However, to have a successful dialogue with your audience, you must respond to what your listeners are signaling. So, for instance, when you see skepticism, you might say, "I know it seems hard to believe, but I promise you, the investment makes sense. The data bears it out. "
10. Finally, when you look someone in the eye for three to five seconds, you will naturally slow down your speech, which will make you sound more presidential. In fact, you will find that you are able to pause, which is one practice that has helped President Obama become a powerful and effective orator.

Looking into the eyes of others may make you feel as if you are staring at them, but you are not doing any such thing. You are simultaneously being assertive and empathetic, because you are asserting your opinion and then watching their faces to understand their response.
With practice, you will master this important skill and turn it into a behavior that will serve you well in all areas of your life.

Thanks for Reading!!