Eye Contact |Leila’s House of Corrections

When speaking with an employee, are you maintaining eye contact the whole time, or are you just glancing at the person and then off to side? Your eyes tell others how you feel so think about the messages your eyes are sending. Come on managers, it s time to learn how to have great eye contact.

Managers earn the respect of their teams by doing many things. One of those things is having great eye contact. Great eye contact indicates confidence, authority, and knowledge. Bad eye contact indicates hesitation, nervousness, and lack of knowledge.

Which one do you want to be known for? Once you answer that question, consider these 3 tips.

Tip 1: Look at a person s eyes for at least one complete thought.

Just looking at a person isn t effective eye contact. To have great eye contact, you need to look at an employee s eyes for at least 5-7 seconds the time it takes for you to begin and finish a thought. Maintain eye contact the whole time. This shows you are comfortable and knowledgeable.

Tip 2: Return eye contact when an employee is speaking to you.

Great eye contact isn t a one-way street. When an employee speaks with you, look at him and maintain eye contact again, for at least 5-7 seconds at a time. Send the message that you are listening and that the person s thoughts are valuable.

Tip 3: When speaking to groups, give everyone eye contact.

Move around the table or room in a random pattern, looking at as many people as possible. The 5-7 second rules still applies: start and finish a thought while looking at someone s eye the whole time. And don t forget the people sitting right next to you include everyone.

So, if you want to be known for confidence, authority, and knowledge, use your eyes.

Even for managers, the eyes are the windows to the soul. They tell your employees, I m smart, I know my stuff, and what I m saying is important.