How to Establish Eye Contact During Public Speaking

Connect with Your Audience for Better Public Speaking PresentationsOne of the most commonly-held fears is public speaking, which is terrifying even to some experienced performers. A case of the nerves is almost guaranteed before you hop up on stage in front of a large group of people, and it can be difficult to remember all of the tips and techniques
 that make a speech great. If you’re going to be pursuing a career or hobby in public speaking, one of the things you need to do is establish eye contact.But what if you’re delivering a speech to 3,000 people in an enormous auditorium? How can you possibly maintain eye contact with each and every person in the audience? You can’t, obviously. However, establishing eye contact with at least a few people throughout the course of your speech will help it hit home, according to Presentation-Pointers.com, even when there are hundreds of other people who never feel he power of your gaze.When Reading from a ScriptIf you’re new to public speaking, you likely bring at least a few notes along to your engagements, if not an entire script from which you intend to read. This makes it slightly more difficult to make eye contact, but certainly not impossible. One of the best ways to overcome this obstacle is to “trace” the script with your finger as you speak, which will help to mark your place when you look up to the audience.The Critical First Few MinutesMany experts in public speaking agree that the first few minutes of a speech are the most critical. This is the time when you want to make as much eye contact as possible, varying your “targets” from all areas of seating. Eye contact doesn’t need to last longer than three or four seconds before you move on to your next “target”, but make those few seconds count. This allows your audience members to feel as though you’re speaking directly to them, which makes for a more powerful presentation.Look for Familiar Faces