415 Engaging Audiences: Why Eye Contact Challenges Presenters In Japan

At different times, I have done both formal and informal one-on-one coaching for people who want to improve their presentations skills in Japan.  Most people can understand the concepts of voice modulation, gesture usage, posture, movement on stage, energy projection, design elements, slide deck build rules, rehearsal importance, etc.  The one area where everyone seems to struggle is with the use of eye contact to engage their audience.
I was coaching the Japanese President of a huge company with branches all over the world.  I only had an hour because of his hectic schedule, but we got through the basics for the presentation he was going to be giving. We worked on the six pockets and six seconds rules together.  The six pockets is an exercise where we grid the audience.  Imagine a baseball diamond configuration.  They have a left, centre, right, inner, outer field breakdown, which gives us the six pockets.

The simple idea is to engage those audience members sitting in these six pockets during the talk.  I am sure you have seen it, I certainly have, where the speaker only looks at one half of their audience and just blanks everyone else.  This is not the way to engage people.  The reason for this is their incorrect foot placement. Our feet should be pointed straight at 90 degrees to the audience and we use our neck to turn in the direction we want, without moving our legs, hips or shoulders.

When we break the audience up into six pockets, we are conscious that we need to be including the entire crowd in our talk.  There is no advantage to organise the six pockets, but then select one and spread the eye contact across the whole pocket, at the same time.  I am sure you have seen this too, where the speaker scans the crowd and gives eye contact to everyone simultaneously and therefore to no one in particular.

This will not improve audience engagement.  Instead, we need to select one person sitting in one of those six pockets, look them straight in the eye and hold their gaze for six seconds.  Less than that is fake eye contact and longer becomes psycho axe killer intrusive. After giving that person the full six seconds, we now switch gears and pick up someone sitting in one of the other pockets, and do it at random.  This is important, because we must stay unpredictable. We don’t want the audience to relax and just switch us off. Keep them on their toes, so that they are concentrating on what we are saying and not secretly glancing at their phone.

In one minute, we can make a direct one-on-one connection with ten people scattered around the room.  For those seated at the back, at that distance, the ten people seated around the person we have selected, all think we are making direct eye contact with them.  In this way, we can really amplify the sense of personal connection.

Now I went through all of this with the President.  He really nailed the posture, energy projection, gestures, voice modulation, but the eye contact was always fleeting and lasting only around two or three seconds.  This is not enough to grab the person you are looking at.  He also did a so-so job working the six pockets. Actually, I would say he got to the people sitting in the centre and pretty much ignored those at the extremes or in the cheap seats down the back. Later, I was thinking, “why is this eye contact thing so hard for people?” Intellectually, he got it, but he didn’t have the patience or discipline to apply it properly.

My conclusion is the lacking ingredient is correct rehearsal.  In our High Impact Presentations classes, if we find someone isn’t getting the eye contact completed long enough, we ask everyone in the class to stand up and stay standing until they receive six seconds of sustained eye contact.  Making eye contact and then looking away and resuming eye contact once again doesn’t come under the term “sustained”, so it doesn’t count.

We actually worked on this sustained eye contact with the President in rehearsal, but the time we had together wasn’t enough.  My recommendation is to find a partner and then in Round One, practice holding eye contact with them for one minute, until it feels more comfortable.  To take it to the next level in Round Two, stare at them intently with a strong gaze for thirty seconds and no looking away or breaking off the eye contact. In Round Three, maintain that powerful eye lock and keep it for six seconds, then relax. Previously, you had done a minute and then completed thirty seconds, so you will find that a measly six seconds feels like nothing.

Like everything, creating new habits takes time and effort.  Make the time to practice because, as I have outlined, this ability is not within the grasp of most people. In this regard, it is relatively easy to stand out amongst other speakers and presenters.  In most areas of business, this is extremely difficult. When we get to the world of presenting, because most people are so hopeless, there are many chances for us to shine.