By Greg Dardis / Guest Editorial
You’ve seen them all: the dart, the scan, the stare-down. You’d like to pay attention to what the speaker is saying, but you’re too distracted by his or her erratic eye contact, or lack thereof.
Part of Steve Jobs’ success with Apple products was the remarkable way he presented them to the world. Last year, a Forbes contributor on business communications said that Mr. Jobs, who died in 2011, was still “the world’s greatest corporate storyteller” and that he’s never seen a more talented speaker. The biographical movie “Jobs” starring Ashton Kutcher, which is now in theaters, highlights the revolutionary nature of Mr. Jobs’ ideas, but underlying that creativity is his ability to articulate and sell those ideas to shareholders, employees, board members and consumers. It is impossible to separate Apple’s success from Mr. Jobs’ public-speaking skills.
As the late chairman makes clear, public speaking can have a powerful effect. That effect is driven home through the eyes. Using eye contact to your advantage can make the difference between a good and a great speech.
There are a number of physical skills for effective public speaking: pacing, volume, inflection, stance, facial expressions, hand gestures and, unsurprisingly, eye contact. What may be surprising is how much a little self-awareness and a lot of practice can enhance your speaking style in this area.
Remember hearing that the eyes are the windows to the soul? They’re also the key to a stellar presentation.
Most speakers learn as early as elementary school show-and-tell that they should look at their audience members, but few seem to know exactly how.
Some focus their gaze on the wall directly over audience members’ heads to avoid eyes completely. Others scan the room, never resting on one particular face. Many dart their eyes from person to person with every few words, what we like to call “the sprinkler.” Some lock eyes with one person, and no one else, which comes across as awkward or obsessive and makes others in the audience feel ignored.
Bad habits or coping mechanisms developed during dreaded high school or college presentations severely diminish the impact of ideas shared in the boardroom or conference hall.
The most effective way to use eye contact is to direct one idea to one person. This may mean that you talk to one person for one phrase or a sentence. When you move to the next idea, move to the next person, who could be right next to the last person or may be sitting in another section. There’s no need to constantly shift your eyes from one corner of the room to the opposite in a contrived, zig-zag fashion. The idea is to shift your gaze naturally among audience members, allowing them, and you, to feel like you’ve made a genuine connection.
This approach, one thought, one set of eyes, is a cornerstone of effective speaking technique. However, knowing how it works is different from mastering the craft. Practice is crucial. That’s why there is such a benefit from our public seminars, where they get up and try a new skill, get instant coaching from the instructor or fellow classmates (who may call out “you’re scanning” or “move on to the next person”) and then watch themselves on video. It’s hard to overestimate how instructive this process is.
Watching others who do it well helps, too, and so does observing when the method is absent. TED talks are ubiquitous on the web and provide countless examples of presentations on intriguing topics. However, you’ll note that few presenters apply the “one thought, one set of eyes” approach. Most scan the audience as they make each point, dropping its emphasis by failing to hold someone’s gaze. Imagine the impact if they engaged an audience member with each idea.
For the listener, an effective approach helps him or her to feel seen, and it makes the speaker appear authentic and sincere. For the speaker, it helps to regulate pace and to order his or her thinking. And that’s our mantra: “Speak as well as you think.”
Refining one’s public speaking skills is a must in today’s highly competitive business climate, where new ideas clamor for attention at faster and faster rates. A five-minute pitch or 40-minute keynote address require the same toolkit for success.
Greg Dardis is founder and president of Dardis Clothiers, located at 805 Second St., Ste 3, in Coralville. For more information, visit www.dardisclothiers.com.
