Eye Contact

Eye contact is the direct link from the presenter to the audience.

Did you take my earrings? Are you lying to me? Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't take my earrings.

People associate eyes with honesty. In order for the audience to believe you, you must make eye contact.

Eye Contact - Small Groups

Start at one side of the room. Look into the eyes of a person for two to five seconds; as you make a point and then move on to the next person. Some presenters move their eye contact at the point of punctuation in their sentence. Do not look at the group in a strict rotation, move across the room. It is important you connect with everyone in the room, not just the listeners that seem to agree with you.

Eye Contact - Large Groups

With large groups it is nearly impossible to connect with everyone in the room. Divide the audience into sections and pick a person in each section. Repeat this method until the end of your presentation, but do not continuously connect with the same person.  

Eye Contact - Faking it

It's not an understatement that presentations can be very nerve racking. If you find it difficult to make proper eye contact with anybody there is a still something you can do. Instead of looking directly into the person's eyes look at the top of their forehead. This will give the impression that you are looking directly at them. If after a while you are feeling confident looking at their forehead, move your gaze to the bridge of their nose. After some time doing that you may eventually be able to look each member of your audience directly in the eye.

Have a look at this video to see the Do's and Dont's of Eye contact!