Something Awful on eye contact

Quadreb posted:

First off, don't stare unless you're trying to intimidate someone. Blink at a normal rate by not thinking about it, but if you find yourself blinking too much stare for a little bit to stop that. A good blink rate is every 4-10 seconds.

Remember to use appropriate facial expressions to convey emotion (you may need to fake it but be careful as many people can detect this). Nodding your head is good, but keep the movement slight, and of course use it only when they are talking. If you start to think you're nodding too much, it's fine to look them in the eye with no head movement, but see below regarding looking away.

Your eyes shouldn't wander from theirs when you're looking at them (like looking at their chin or similar). Look away occasionally though, but not all the time or you'll look evasive. A good time to look away is shortly after the other person does, indicating they've reached the limit of their comfort level. When you look away, don't look down or up, just keep your head level and make the look smoothly and quickly. You shouldn't look away for more than a few seconds, and you should nod your head while looking away.

Remember to maintain proper posture. Head up and shoulders back, especially while walking and talking. A proper bearing brings respect. Don't tense up too much - you may need to do some stretches and some weightlifting to develop a good posture while loose though.

Small verbal cues are important. "Oh yeah?", "Ah", "OK", "Sure", etc. Slip them in to indicate attentiveness, but use sparingly (~8 per minute at most).