When I was competing on the speech team in high school, one of the fellow contestants gave his entire speech to the black board … his back to the rest of us in the room. Obviously, he was having some eye contact issues … there was none.
Hopefully, you won’t have such a eye contact challenge moment. In this video, excerpt from a workshop for teens about public speaking, I share some tips on how to maintain eye contact with your audience.
To review:
- For each audience member, your presentation is similar to a one-on-one conversation going on in their head.
- Avoid focusing on one person or one section of the room.
- If looking people in the eye is too intense for you, look at their forehead or nose, instead.
- When you look in the general direction of a group of people in the room, the chances are each person in that group will think you are looking at him or her.
- Don’t scan the room too quickly. Give each section of the room about the same about of eye contact time.
The above video was excerpted from two 45-minute workshops I facilitated for a group of teens and young adults. I am available to speak to your group, both in-person and virtually, on a variety of topics. For more information, visit www.carmaspence.com/speaker.
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