A&S Alexander & Seiler

Q: I don't have time to go to a seminar so what is the one thing I can do to improve my presentations?

A: Tough question simply because it is a group of skills that results in improved presentations.but OK if you want just one let's work on eye contact.

Eye contact is a very powerful skill when used properly. Good eye contact adds credibility, makes you less nervous by making you look and feel in control. It also gives you an opportunity to "read" your audience to see if your message is getting through, if you need to speed up or slow down.

When I work with a client, I tell him/her to look at an audience member for about ten seconds and then randomly move on to someone else in the audience and look at that person for 10 seconds, and so on.. Now 10 seconds may seem like a life time when in front of a group, so I recommend that once you look at an audience member just complete your thought/sentence.then randomly move on to someone else. Once you practice this skill and gain more experience, you will find that that your eye contact will become a bit longer without starring. If it is a small group everyone will receive eye contact and will feel included in your presentation.

So how do you give good eye contact to a large group of 50 - 5,000? Don't even try to give a quick glance to as many people as you can. You will come across shifty and not someone to trust. True, you cannot give good direct eye contact to every one but you can make every one "feel" as though they received eye contact. Here's how to do it. Before you present, decide which random members of your audience will receive direct eye contact. Pick individuals in the front, the sides, people in the middle and some individuals in the back of the room. Those listeners will receive direct eye contact from you. When you do this the people sitting in front, sides and back of the person will "feel" the eye contact as well. For the people that you look in the back row, the dividend is even greater because from that person in the back all the way to the people up front (in a cone pattern) "feel" as though they received eye contact! See diagram below.

One more point about the power of eye contact. Your listeners will notice how you take the time to really look at individuals. As a result, they will pay greater attention to you, as they certainly don't want the embarrassment of being caught not paying attention.

Now about you not having the time to take a seminar in presentation skills, you may want to rethink that one. Surveys have shown that one of the skills most important in an individual's career advancement, and certainly very a very noticeable one is the ability to speak well and persuasively in front of groups, whether a staff meeting, committee, or an annual company meeting and also one on one. In fact as a result of my presentation skills training, my clients write better memos, emails, voice messages and business letters. Think of it as an investment in yourself and your future.

If you will like to discuss this further, please email me: contact@denyseseiler.com

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phone: (616) 204-8305    email: contact@denyseseiler.com