Post date: Jun 05, 2012 3:26:26 PM
Audiences feel more comfortable if you speak to them as individuals rather than as a mass of faceless, anonymous people. Establishing eye contact helps develop one-on-one rapport with members of your audience. It helps you monitor audience reactions and adjust your presentation when necessary. Eye contact can also give you greater confidence and control. It breaks the audience down into smaller, more manageable units.
1. Look at each audience member for five seconds.
2. Avoid a repetitious triangle; look at different sections of the audience, but not in the same sequence (e.g. left, center, right; left, center, right; etc.)
3. Spread your eye contact around to all audience members.
4. If you lose your train of thought, do not avert your eyes. Do not look at the floor, the ceiling, or the walls. Instead, look into the eyes of individual members of the audience while gathering your thoughts. The audience will not be able to determine whether your pause is deliberate or not. Meanwhile, use the Litany exercise to regain control and gather your thoughts.
(Benjamin Smith, Baker Communications.)