Eye Contact
After being informed by multiply people that I have extremely poor eye contact, I decided to do something about it. I am in the habit of dropping my eyes or looking over a person’s shoulder when I talk to them, so I decided to consciously make an effort to look people in the eye. I started on Tuesday.
The first person I talked to in the morning was Wendy at the AHS library. Wendy has good eye contact. She also has very pretty brown eyes. We chatted for a few minutes, and I made an effort to make eye contact with her rather than look around. I also talked to my boss, Mary Beth. I made eye contact with her pretty blue eyes and felt less nervous around her than I usually feel.
Then I had to run over to GSLIS to get my lunch. On the way, I saw Emmalyn from class, Jillian from my high school, and Dan from band. I greeted all of them and made eye contact, and they responded in kind. On the way back I ran into Gil, this extremely attractive guy in CHP who Annie, Alice, and I were actually having an extended conversation about last week after HSC. Anyway, he was obviously in a hurry, which I could tell because he kept looking away towards Newman, and while he was friendly, his gorgeous blue eyes were not looking at me. People tend to look where their minds are.
I had a meeting with Jim of the Undergrad library, because we are planning an SAS together. I made a point of trying to maintain eye contact with him, but the man has terrible eye contact! He has lovely brown eyes with long, thick lashes, but his eyes were rarely looking at me. They were looking at the papers on the table, or over my head, or to the side.
In the afternoon I had class, and then I went to catch the bus. As I was waiting in the bus stop, I saw my friend David K, who I know from GSLIS. I had not seen him in months, so I greeted him, and he seemed glad to see me. We got on the bus together and sat near the back, chatting about classes. I noticed that he never took his eyes off me. His eye contact was intense, so intense that I had to look away! Actually, I felt like he was staring at me, although he was definitely staring at my face and not any other parts of my body.
From my interactions, I realized that eye contact or lack thereof can make someone feel comfortable or uncomfortable, wanted or unwanted. I definitely want to make more eye contact than Jim (maybe 10%), but less eye contact than David (about 98%). I believe the best amount of eye contact is 70-80% of the time, and right now, I generally make eye contact about 30-40%. I am glad that this was pointed out to me though, so that I can work on it. After all, I am all about self-improvement!
The first person I talked to in the morning was Wendy at the AHS library. Wendy has good eye contact. She also has very pretty brown eyes. We chatted for a few minutes, and I made an effort to make eye contact with her rather than look around. I also talked to my boss, Mary Beth. I made eye contact with her pretty blue eyes and felt less nervous around her than I usually feel.
Then I had to run over to GSLIS to get my lunch. On the way, I saw Emmalyn from class, Jillian from my high school, and Dan from band. I greeted all of them and made eye contact, and they responded in kind. On the way back I ran into Gil, this extremely attractive guy in CHP who Annie, Alice, and I were actually having an extended conversation about last week after HSC. Anyway, he was obviously in a hurry, which I could tell because he kept looking away towards Newman, and while he was friendly, his gorgeous blue eyes were not looking at me. People tend to look where their minds are.
I had a meeting with Jim of the Undergrad library, because we are planning an SAS together. I made a point of trying to maintain eye contact with him, but the man has terrible eye contact! He has lovely brown eyes with long, thick lashes, but his eyes were rarely looking at me. They were looking at the papers on the table, or over my head, or to the side.
In the afternoon I had class, and then I went to catch the bus. As I was waiting in the bus stop, I saw my friend David K, who I know from GSLIS. I had not seen him in months, so I greeted him, and he seemed glad to see me. We got on the bus together and sat near the back, chatting about classes. I noticed that he never took his eyes off me. His eye contact was intense, so intense that I had to look away! Actually, I felt like he was staring at me, although he was definitely staring at my face and not any other parts of my body.
From my interactions, I realized that eye contact or lack thereof can make someone feel comfortable or uncomfortable, wanted or unwanted. I definitely want to make more eye contact than Jim (maybe 10%), but less eye contact than David (about 98%). I believe the best amount of eye contact is 70-80% of the time, and right now, I generally make eye contact about 30-40%. I am glad that this was pointed out to me though, so that I can work on it. After all, I am all about self-improvement!