416 Part 4 Public Speakingtop) unless a casual appearance is crucial to your presentation. Indeed, you
might look a little silly demonstrating surfing positions on your surfboard in a
tie or dress. The key is to dress appropriately for the image you wish to present,
given your topic and your audience.Using Effective Eye Behavior
It’s likely you’ve heard some questionable advice about looking at your audience
members while giving a speech: “Just look over their heads at the wall” or (worse)
“Just pretend your audience is naked and don’t stare.” Not only are these sugges-
tions awkward, but they are ineffective as well because competent speakers are
aware of the power of their eye behavior.
As we noted in Chapter 4, eye behavior is a crucial aspect of nonverbal
communication that can be both effective and appropriate when a communica-
tor considers the cultural context in which he or she is communicating with a
relational partner. For example, in the United States and many other Western
cultures, a lack of eye contact can make a speaker seem suspicious or untrust-
worthy, making direct eye contact one of the most important nonverbal actions
in public speaking as it signals respect and interest to the audience (Axtell,
1991). But how can a speaker make and maintain eye contact with a group of
individuals?
One way is to move your eyes from one person to another (in a small
group) or one section of people to another (in a large group), a technique called
scanning. To use it, picture yourself standing in front of the audience, and then
divide the room into four imaginary sections. As you move from idea to idea in
your speech, move your eye contact into a new section. Select a friendly-looking
person in the quadrant, and focus your eye contact directly on that person while
completing the idea (just make sure you don’t pick a friend who will try to make
you laugh!). Then change quadrants and select a person from the new group.
Tips for using the scanning technique are offered in Table 14.1.Work in sections Do not scan from left to right or right to left. Always
work in sections and move randomly from one section
to another.
Avoid the “lighthouse”
effectYou’ll look like a human lighthouse (or a lawn sprinkler)
if you simply rotate your upper torso from left to right
while you talk, looking at no one person in particular.
Look people in the eye Avoid looking at people’s foreheads or over their heads;
look them in the eye, even if they are not looking back
at you.
Focus for a moment Remember to pause long enough on an individual
so that the person can recognize that you are looking
directly at him or her.
Don’t jump away If someone is not looking at you, stay with the person
anyway until you’ve finished your thought. Then move
on to another.
Divide large groups If the audience is too large for you to get to everyone,
look at small groups of two or three people sitting
together.TABLE 14.1TIPS FOR SCANNING
YOUR AUDIENCE