18th May 2020 / Prue Fletcher: Communication: It’s All in the Eyes

Having heavily relied on technology for the last 7 weeks, face-to-face communication has taken a back seat and therefore our communication skills may have unknowingly deteriorated. With the fast paced nature of technology causing the human brain to be highly over-stimulated, our concentration and patience when engaged in conversations will have undoubtedly been affected during this isolation period.

According to research reports published in Breathe Magazine, 'eye contact lasting more than 3.3 seconds starts to becomes awkward', so what steps can we take to help us hold our focus and begin to make our points of connection more agreeable?

Here's some basic ways to get you thinking about how you can improve your connection when transacting property. It all starts in the eyes!

Take Your Cues from Others

Prolonged eye contact is disrespected in some parts of the world. Many Asian cultures, for example, use subtle eye contact to communicate. The best practice is to notice what the person you're speaking to is doing and mirror them.

Don't Look Down

You can break eye contact without losing your audience by looking to the side; which implies you're thinking. Glancing downward, however, suggests you've finished speaking.

Allow for Thinking Time

Direct eye contact can make it harder to think deeply. Maintaining eye contact draws on the same mental resources used to complete tasks, which explains why people often look away when trying to remember something. This is worth bearing in mind during appraisal and/or negotiation stages, when prolonged eye contact, as demanded by etiquette, could be a double-edged sword.

Switch Your Focus

Soften your gaze by looking around someone's eyes. Personal development expert, Steven Aitchinson, recommends the Triangle Technique; 'Look at one eye for about 5 seconds, look at the other eye for 5 seconds and then look at the mouth of 5 seconds and keep rotating this way. This technique coupled with other listening skills such as nodding and occasional agreement is a great way to keep the talker talking and to show you're interested in what they are saying.'

Edited extract via @breathemagazine_australia

Click Here to View the Triangle Technique