Positioning of Eyes

How to Use Eye Contact for Connection

Watching a presenter reading their notes aloud or talking to their slides can diminish your
interest in a subject and can even make you feel like you don’t need to be there.

Eye contact aids communication because it creates a direct connection. Without it,
communication becomes harder and has less impact.

Eye contact keeps people awake.

Eye contact helps you convey subjects with authority and makes audience members feel
like participants rather than observers.

Eye contact also improves your concentration and eases anxiety because it reminds you
that audience members are individuals like yourself rather than a faceless group of critics.

Keep Your Eyes on the Move

As you present, make eye contact with as many members of the audience as possible. With
larger audiences, try to make eye contact with everyone at least once. With smaller
audiences, try to balance the level of eye contact between participants. By doing so, your
audience will feel that you are addressing them as individuals and that your messages are
personal.

Aim for Three to Five Seconds

Ideally, stick to between three to five seconds of eye contact before moving on to the next
person. However, avoid counting the seconds in your mind as this can break your
concentration, which may diminish your presentation performance.

As with all presentation tips, practice is essential. When you run through the presentation
on your own, move your eyes every three to five seconds to look at a different point in the
room. This will help to make eye contact an organic part of your authentic presentation
style.

Naturally, bear in mind that there are a few situations where you need to lock eye contact
for longer. For example, when listening to someone’s question or while asking them a
follow-up question.
Keep the Rhythm

Regularly switch eye contact with different members of the audience so no one feels
singled out by lengthy periods of staring. Even when referencing the work of someone in
the room, you only need to catch their eye as you begin to mention them, before moving on
to connect with others.

Eye contact also goes hand in hand with another extremely valuable presentation training
technique: The Well-Timed Pause.

Keep it Random.

Make your moment-to-moment targets for eye contact seem perfectly natural rather than a
systematic pattern. A useful acting technique is to mentally split the audience into three
groups from left to right. For example, you might look ‘audience left’ for a bit to make eye
contact with two or three people. Then look ‘audience right’ and make eye contact with two
or three more, before focusing on the ‘audience center.’

If you are standing, then move around the speaking area to make your eye contact look
even more organic. Moving while you speak is one of our top presentation tips for Speaking
with Confidence.

Observe Reactions

Another key benefit of eye contact is that it lets you see how the audience is reacting to
what you say. Although they are sitting still and silently, look for nods, frowns, and anyone
who seems a little confused or bored.

Using eye contact to gauge reactions allows you to tailor your presentation to the audience,
such as explaining a point in greater detail than you originally intended.

Answer Questions in the Room

When answering questions, never run the risk of the rest of the audience feeling left out.
Lock eyes with the person as they ask their question, and then deliver your answer to the
room so everyone gains the benefit of the knowledge.

It also helps to repeat the question back to the room before you answer, which ensures
everyone understands the context. This is just one of our valuable presentation techniques
that will help you host a perfect Q&A session.
Using Hands

Don’t do this…

Stand At Ease. Both hands are held behind the back in a military fashion and out of view.
You might think that you appear confident and in control, but in fact, there are a few
interpretations for this gesture, and they are almost all negative (unless of course, you are a
member of The Royal Family), especially in a presentation setting. The audience will be
wondering, “What are you hiding? And if we explore our tribal ancestry, we find that this
stance was likely to invoke a high degree of anxiety if used by someone approaching that
we didn’t know; Are they concealing a gift or a weapon?

The Toy Soldier. Also known as the wooden soldier, this presenter has both hands at the
sides. This stance looks rigid and uncomfortable. If you find yourself in this position, move
out of it quickly, or else you’ll look stiff – even scared, and unapproachable.

Fig leaf Position. This is where you clasp your hands in front of you, with your hands
below your waist. We see this a lot when we work with female presenters. This position
will make you appear passive, weak, and subordinate. It certainly does not communicate
confidence or authority!

Hands in Pockets. Having one hand in your pocket for a short period can make you look
relaxed and comfortable. But if you leave it there too long it can also make you appear as if
you don’t care. Also, depending on the formality of the situation, or the culture you’re in, it
can be interpreted as rude and disrespectful. There are very few people that can get away
with two hands in their pockets. For the rest of us it makes us look juvenile. And, whatever
you do, don’t be tempted to fiddle with anything that might be in your pockets e.g. coins or
keys.

The Juggler or Jazz hands. This is where your hands are in perpetual motion and never
come to a stop. The overall impression you convey is one of nervousness. It’s also very
distracting to watch.

Finger Pointing. Beware of pointing at the audience. A pointing finger can be perceived as
accusatory, or aggressive. Instead, use an open-handed gesture to refer to an audience
member. It’s warmer and more neutral.

Fidgeting. Overall fidgeting, be it with a ring on your finger, a necklace or lanyard, your
hair, your clothing – whatever it might be, communicates nervousness. The good news
though is that fidgeting can be your body’s way of telling you to move your hands – but
with purpose. So, stop holding back and GESTURE, but do so effectively.
Do this.

Hands Above the Waist. As soon as possible, bring your hands above the waist. This will
help to amplify your personal presence and the impression of confidence. Your ‘power
space’ is between your waist and your face. Keep most of your gestures in this box. When
Bill Clinton was running for president, he used too many wide, sweeping gestures that
made him look untrustworthy. His coaches told him to gesture within the box. It became
known as the Clinton box.
Find your Neutral Position. When you start flailing and over gesticulating, it’s time to
come to a stop. Find a resting position, or what we refer to as a neutral position, one that
you can come back to and re-set. It may be one hand on top of the other with your elbows
at your waist. Or where your hands are loosely clasped, again elbows at your waist. Or in
the steeple position – see below. Think of the resting or neutral position as your home base.
You can continue to return to it when you feel your hands are moving too much or you
need to take a pause or perhaps listen to a question. A good tip is to take a selfie of yourself
in your neutral position so you can gauge what looks, and feels, the most natural for you.
Remember that you will only use the neutral position for short periods; holding it too long
will look, and certainly feel, uncomfortable.
Steepling. Position your hands at waist level and bring your hands together with just the
fingertips touching. This posture communicates confidence and can also convey authority
and dial up your gravitas. Use this gesture sparingly as it can also be meant to intimidate or
establish dominance.
Hold the Ball. A powerful position is to hold your hands above the waist as if you’re
holding a basketball. This gesture is a great way to let your audience know you’re ready to
start your presentation, or that you’re about to enter a new chapter of your story. It’s
almost like an inhalation of breath. Steve Jobs used this gesture very effectively during his
presentations for Apple.

Count Off. When you have 3-5 items you want to run through, be they agenda items,
alternative solutions, strategic pillars, or whatever – you can tick off the points on your
fingers as if you’re going through a list. This is a very effective way of visually chunking up
your message which in turn will make what you’re about to say easier to follow for your
audience.

Palms Up. To convey honesty, hold your hands waist high and turn your palms up. The
reason this gesture helps to signal honesty is because by exposing the palms of your hands
you’re showing that you have nothing to hide. Importantly, don’t shrug your shoulders at
the same time or you’ll look unsure!

Palms Down. Keep your palms waist high and turn your palms down so that the tops of
your hands are visible. Now make a downward movement. This conveys authority,
calmness, and control – and can be a great technique to use for quieting a crowd. President
Obama uses this gesture very successfully.
Facial Expression
Seven universally recognized emotions shown through facial expression:

1. Anger
2. Disgust
3. Contempt
4. Fear
5. Happiness
6. Sadness
7. Surprise

Positive Facial Expressions:

Smile – A smile shows you are friendly, approachable, and welcoming. Always start the
presentation with a smile to help the audience warm to you. Make sure the smile is
genuine and it reaches your eyes. Then, give a smile when it’s appropriate to do so during
the presentation. However, do not smile the whole way through as this is seen as being
fake (and a bit creepy!).

Eye contact – Direct eye contact shows that you are confident, and trustworthy. When
presenting, try to look one person in the eye for about 5 seconds, then move on to another
person. Try to keep it as random as possible. Do not keep sweeping your eyes from one
side of the room to the other. If presenting virtually to a camera, make sure you look
directly into the camera itself as this will give your virtual audience the impression of
direct eye contact with them.

Look up – During your Q+A session, after a member of the audience has asked a question,
move your eyes upwards briefly, as though in a thoughtful pose. This will give the
impression you are giving their question some serious thought before answering.
Having said that, if you are genuinely giving their question serious thought (which we
strongly recommend you do), you will most likely find yourself making this gesture
automatically.
Nodding – When dealing with questions, comments, or feedback from your audience, nod
your head as you listen to them. This lets the audience know they have your attention and
that you are fully engaged with them.

Caveat: do not nod too much or too quickly, either can unwittingly give the other person
the impression that you want them to hurry up.

Facial expressions to avoid:

Rapid blinking – Keep your blinking under control – blinking more rapidly gives the
impression you are distressed or uncomfortable.

Prolonged eye contact – Although we do recommend eye contact with people in your
audience, prolonged eye contact, or staring, can be seen as threatening. If, however, you
are presenting virtually, then holding prolonged eye contact directly into the camera when
addressing your listeners is considered good practice.

Nose – Try to refrain from touching your nose, mouth, or chin when presenting. This could
be seen as a sign of insecurity and is perceived as negative by your audience.