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Ever been
in a huge audience listening to a speech when the speaker
looked your way and you thought she was looking right at
you? You might have thought, “Wow. She’s talking to me.
Personally! I wonder why she picked me out of this entire
audience!”
Good
speakers know how to give everyone in the audience personal
eye contact. With small groups it’s not hard. Just work
your way around the room. But with large audiences, you’re
going to have to rely on a stage trick we call “The Eye
Contact Paradox.”
The Eye
Contact Paradox is a trick that you can use to connect in a
personal way with huge audiences (75 people or more) by
making eye contact with only a few of the audience members.
Let's say
that you're speaking to 300 people. There's no way that you
can make eye contact with each person in the room. Nor
should you try.
But you do
need to make sure that you make good eye contact with
individuals in all sections of the room. Here’s how to do
it.
·
In your
mind, draw a giant Z on top of the audience with the top of
the Z starting the in back of the room, the middle cutting
through the center of your audience, and the bottom of the Z
cutting across the front of the room.
·
Start at
the top left of the Z and make eye contact with someone in
that vicinity. No matter whom you connect with back there,
everyone sitting in that vicinity will get the sense that
you’re making eye contact with them.
·
Now you
just have to move around the Z.
·
Move to
the top left of the Z and connect with someone there.
·
Moving
down the Z connect with someone in the approximate center of
the room and then with someone in the front left, then the
front right.
By
connecting with individuals in each section of the room, all
the audience members will get the sense that you were
talking to them individually. And your delivery will be
very intimate.
At
Speechworks we help our clients learn how to give
presentations that connect with the audience. If you’re
interested in becoming a great communicator give us a call
at 404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net |
