For them, the image is reversed. This means the speaker looks at people’s faces, uses penetrating eye contact, shows a blend of serious and lighthearted facial expressions, and tries to connect at every level—verbal and non-verbal. But if you’re a true Nervous Nellie, keep your audience fully clothed and make a commitment to use the traits and strategies that confident speakers employ. MORE

Photos ( Zenfolio | Flickr ) Archives About Contact Dear Speakers By James Duncan Davidson on March 8, 2009 12:22 AM | 71 Comments Tagged: advice, speaking Last week, while shooting eComm 2009 in Burlingame, I started posting a set of thoughts on Twitter, all starting out Dear Speaker. If you dont make eye contact with your audience, you make it that much harder for them to connect to your message. Obviously, you should wear clothes that you are comfortable in on stage. MORE

For them, the image is reversed. This means the speaker looks at people’s faces, uses penetrating eye contact, shows a blend of serious and lighthearted facial expressions, and tries to connect at every level—verbal and non-verbal. But if you’re a true Nervous Nellie, keep your audience fully clothed and make a commitment to use the traits and strategies that confident speakers employ. MORE

When we think of public speaking, the traditional image that comes to mind is a person standing in the front of a room full of people. It gives you authority, it helps the audience pay better attention, and your eye contact and body language are more accessible to the group. Are you on a raised stage, or are you at eye level with the audience? If any of these positions are uncomfortable or precarious, change the offending piece of clothing. MORE

When we think of public speaking, the traditional image that comes to mind is a person standing in the front of a room full of people. It gives you authority, it helps the audience pay better attention, and your eye contact and body language are more accessible to the group. Are you on a raised stage, or are you at eye level with the audience? If any of these positions are uncomfortable or precarious, change the offending piece of clothing. MORE

Similarly don’t crowd the slides with visual images. A series of images depicting various forms of body language that communicate attraction. A short video on tracking eye movements to study consumer behavior 2 min, 44 sec. Eye contact, 1.44. Clothing and communication, [link] , 2.02. Clothing—do clothes make the man?, Here is exercise that I'm working on for a nonverbal book I'm doing that I thought might be useful. MORE

I think I'll get into my workout clothes, so I'll be ready to go when it's time. I thought I had gotten somewhere when I contacted the author of this article , who stated, "The findings have been verified by countless other surveys and studies in subsequent years." Rather than mentally stripping (pardon the pun) audience members of dignity so you can feel better, concentrate instead on lifting your own self-image. Make eye contact for 3 to 5 seconds per person." MORE

Earlier this week, I spoke about Audiences with X-Ray Eyes & Ears , and the dangers of speaking on a topic you dont believe in. Some speakers, such as Scott the Nametag Guy, make their clothing a part of their brand. Instead, start by making eye contact. Followers Subscribe To Posts Atom Posts Comments Atom Comments Rich Hopkins Speaker, Author, Communications Coach CLICK image to purchase! MORE

Unfortunately for him, there were members of the panel who had been informed by an image consultant to be wary of men who wear green suits to business meetings. Albert Mehrabian may be uncomfortable about self-styled image consultants with very little psychological expertise, but the situation may be even worse than he thinks: some image consultants are quite willing to make definitive-sounding claims without being constrained at all by facts or research. MORE

A number of topics that are often grouped together under headings like ‘body language’ and ‘non-verbal communication’ have already been discussed in earlier chapters: the role of eye contact in holding the attention of audiences (Chapter 1), and the importance of intonation, stress and pausing (Chapter 2). It would have made more sense for Shakespeare to have had Mark Anthony say, “Lend me your eyes”, and for the same correction to be made to the title of this book. MORE

Don't let that put you off, and do use color as a way to focus eyes on you. Ensure the audience is focused on the right part of your speech: If your jewelry, the fit (or lack thereof) of your clothing or any aspect of your appearance distracts your audience, you'll only have succeeded in focusing them on how you look, rather than what you are saying. It's not just about the clothes. MORE

Keeping the audience eyes’ on you rather than their laptops benefits both you and the audience. Among other advice I might give, one thing I’ve done is to try and combat the unpredictability of cabin temperature — seems every flight is either too hot or too cold — by dressing in clothing suitable for both temperature ranges, usually something like Columbia Omni-Dry pants and a Nike Dri-Fit shirt. Make eye contact. MORE