SHIFTING VISUAL FOCUS

By Christopher Peck

Thanks for joining me this week as we explore visual focus and how it impedes or improves public and interpersonal communication.  Let’s dive right in! 

Try something for me: The next time you’re out with a friend, family member, someone you know well, stare at a fixed point on a wall/window/doorway/etc.  How long does it take your friend to look over at this fixed point?  Seconds?  Maybe a minute?  Visual focus is a powerful tool in communication.  When utilized appropriately, it directs and connects an audience to your message.  When used incorrectly, it undermines your intention and your product.

Remember the last time you were at a play?  How did the director focus your eye on a specific person, place, or object?  Maybe lighting was used?  Perhaps an outlandish costume?

Stage directors have a difficult responsibility.  Unlike film directors, they cannot control the audience eye.  Instead they rely on manipulative tricks to govern audience attention.  For example: If every stage performer is looking at a certain person or object, the audience will too.  Even if audience members want to look elsewhere, it’s hard to do so because other performers are redirecting their attention back to the intended focal point. 

The same can be said for presentation and in-person communication. 

Consider a presenter at a workshop.  He is intimidated by public presentations and nervously looks at the floor during his demonstration.  Not only does this fear and intimidation reflect on his messaging, but he is also encouraging visual focus toward the floor.  How does this affect his presentation?  He should be the audience’s point of focus.  If he continuously looks down to the floor, his audience will follow his eye.  Now not only does intimidation reflect negatively on his brand, but he also shifts visual focus away from himself--and his presentation--and toward the floor. 

We don’t want to look at the floor.  We want to look at you.  We want to look at your product.  You want us to look at your product.  Don’t undermine intention by deflecting focus away from your messaging. 

Keep this in mind the next time you meet with a friend, a colleague, anyone.  Are you inadvertently directing focus away from yourself?  Do you look at the floor?  The table?  The wall?  Look at your other!  Eye contact encourages attention.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to be creepy.  Eye contact doesn't have to be maintained throughout the entirety of the conversation.  That’s just unsettling.

Examine the picture below.  Your sweet spot to maintain client focus is inside the white box.  Again, you do not have to keep eye contact at all times, you don’t even have to continuously stay inside this imaginary box.  But here are two ways this box can be useful:  

1)      When you find your focus straying to the wall, table, or door, use the box as a refocus point.

2)      When your focus lies outside the box, make sure it is a calculated choice.  If you don’t want to be the focus, make sure you’re still controlling where focus is located. 

Focus is imperative in constructive and strategic communication.  It changes moderately when addressing larger groups of individuals, but the concept remains the same.  Focus on your audience and they will focus on you.  Make eye contact.  Talk “with” your audience, not “at” them.  They will be more engaged with your content, activated by your messaging, and prone to respond positively to your story, idea, or ask. 

Thanks for reading this week.  On June 21st, we tackle “Throw Away Gestures”.  See you then! 

RETREATING

By Christopher Peck

Welcome back to the ‘Art Needs Art’ blog!  Over the next three months we will dissect five physical habits that undermine the intention and value of Public Speakers.  Visit my website every first and third Wednesday of the month to learn how certain body language decisions can obscure an otherwise effective presentation.

RETREATING

Imagine this: A presenter is speaking in front of a group of individuals.  She is confident, charismatic, witty, and well-spoken.  But something appears off.  She subconsciously—or consciously—takes a step or two backward when she feels she is too close to the audience. 

The decision makes sense.  She does not want to encroach on her audience.  Invading personal space can be uncomfortable for the speaker and her audience—especially in small speaking environments like a classroom or a meeting space.  A large auditorium, complete with elevated stage, poses the hazardous and humiliating risk of falling into the audience. 

A habitual cycle is formed: The speaker moves toward the audience, feels she is too close, and retreats away from the audience. 

While the convention of this reverse movement might seem logical, it poses concerns regarding how it is perceived by the audience. 

Let’s consider how society is conditioned to perceive “stepping backward” or “retreating”.  What language or imagery resonates when you see an individual stepping backward, away from another person or group?

-          Fear?

-          Apprehension?

-          Hesitation?

-          Insecurity?

-          Sulking?

-          Trepidation?

-          Loss of power?

-          Loss of control?

As a professional stage director, I am accustomed to telling story through movement, gesture, and stage pictures.  If I want to effectively demonstrate Power vs. Weakness, an excellent stage picture would be a powerful character advancing on a weak, retreating character.

When speakers retreat onstage, these negative perceptions filter through the audience.  Despite her charisma and wit, the speaker is undermining her authority and confidence by utilizing an action communicating weakness and insecurity. 

But her previous concerns are valid.  She needs to use the space, and sometimes she needs to widen the distance between her and her audience. 

What can she do instead?

Curved movements allow individuals to maintain forward motion, and momentum, while reintroducing distance.  Consider the diagram below:

The curved “cross”—a theatre term meaning movement across the stage—allows the speaker to move forward in a powerful, advancing motion, even though she is creating distance with the audience.  Keep in mind she is not stepping backward.  The curved cross keeps the speaker's face visible to the audience while maintaining forward momentum.  This movement reaffirms the speaker’s confidence and charisma, without promoting an audience perception of hesitation or insecurity—in both the speaker and her brand. 

Practice the curved cross as a replacement for retreating in your next public presentation.  It is more commanding, authoritative, and allows you to move through the space effortlessly. 

If you found today’s blog informative and helpful, consider registering for “Communicate Your Value”.  In this workshop, I equip business leaders with the skills necessary to activate their audience, control and effectively utilize body language, and develop vocal variety for a more engaging presentation.

If you are part of a business or organization wishing to empower their leaders with strong public speaking skills, I offer a 1-hour seminar, “The 4 ‘Knows’ of Effective Communication”.  For more information, contact me at artneedsartllc@gmail.com.   

Visit us again in two weeks to find out why shifting visual focus is shifting audiences away from your product. 

WHY DO I NEED A PUBLIC SPEAKING COACH?

It’s a fair question.  There are numerous coaches out there for life, business, health, fitness, etc. Why do I need one more?  What reasons are there to hire a Public Speaking Coach?

I have an upcoming presentation.

I struggle to share and communicate my ideas with others.

I lack the confidence to stand up in front of others.

I worry that others judge me when I present.

I communicate regularly with colleagues.

I have an upcoming interview.

I am responsible for presenting at meetings.

I am in a position of leadership.

I meet face-to-face with clients.

I am in sales.

I am terrified of public speaking.

So why don't we?  What reasons do we identify with that stop us from investing in ourselves and hiring a Public Speaking Coach?

I am already pretty good at speaking in front of others.

I will never be good at speaking in front of others.

I am an extrovert.

I am an introvert.

I do not have to speak publicly very often.

I am afraid.

I do not have time.

I do not have the money.

I can just wing it.

I get nauseous just thinking about it.

There are a thousand reasons to hire a public speaking coach, and a thousand reasons to avoid hiring a public speaking coach. 

The reality is you will be fine if you never work with a professional speech coach.  You can wing it.  Most of the time.  You can avoid it.  Most of the time.  You will be fine.  Most of the time. 

But sometimes…

Winging it is not enough.

Avoiding it is not an option.

Pretty good doesn’t cut it.

Being an introvert isn’t an excuse.

Being an extrovert doesn’t matter.

Hiring a Public Speaking Coach is about developing a life-long skill allowing you to present your ideas with confidence, charisma, authority, and genuineness.  It is about entrusting a professional to be your first audience member.  It is about discovering your speaking strengths and utilizing those strengths to empower your presentations.  It is about carefully examining verbal and non-verbal habits that may be undermining your ideas, personal story, or business messaging.

You do not need a Public Speaking Coach. 

But…

You will benefit from the expertise of a Public Speaking Coach. 

You will develop confidence with a Public Speaking Coach.

You will be a more effective and strategic presenter with a Public Speaking Coach.

You will present the best version of yourself with a Public Speaking Coach.

My name is Christopher Peck.  I am a Public Speech and Interpersonal Communication Coach.  Business leaders hire me because they want to be more confident, strategic, communicators. 

I invite you to visit my blog regularly.  Over the next three months, I will discuss FIVE physical mannerisms that may negatively impact the way audiences perceive you and your brand. 

Retreating

Shifting Visual Focus

Throw Away Gestures

Physical Indecision

Your feet

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. 

For more information regarding ‘Art Needs Art’ and upcoming Public Speaking workshops, visit my website at www.artneedsartllc.com.

See you soon!