Speaker Mastermind Community: Click here to find out more about the Paid to Speak Accelerator Community (aka Mastermind Community) and to put your name on our Waiting List. Show Notes: 7 Tips to Become a Better Speaker #6 - Look People in the Eye Why Is This Important? It helps you make personal connections with audience members. In fact, it's probably the simplest thing you can do to enhance the impact of your presentation and persuade audience members to your point of view. Why Is This Challenging? Looking into another person's eyes, especially when you're on stage talking to a group of people, just feels awkward. And if you're nervous, it feels even more awkward. How to Improve Your Eye Contact? Remember that you are speaking to individuals and not just a group. Find audience members who are engaged and are already looking at you. Sustain eye contact with each individual long enough to make a connection, then move on. Three to five seconds is usually a good guideline. Avoid looking at people who you can tell feel awkward with eye contact. That will feel more like a stare-down than eye contact. Be prepared. It's practically impossible to make eye contact when you're in your head trying to remember your presentation. Finally, here are the tips we've covered so far: #1 - Know Your Topic #2 - Capture New Ideas #3 - Get Your Reps In #4 - Focus on Serving #5 - Create an Experience for Your Audience Episode Resources 9 Ways to Get Paid as a Speaker (FREE Resource) 5 Keys to Create a Speech That Pays (FREE Resource) Got questions? Submit them here Thank You for Listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review on iTunes. Also, share it by using the social media buttons at the top or bottom of this post. Until next time, continue to move from #DREAMtoDO as a speaker.