(For context, I am autistic) Hi everyone, When I was a kid, I was told I didn't look people in the eye enough. But now I think I've overcorrected, because now I unnerve people by looking in their eye too much. What's the appropriate level of eye contact when talking to someone? Which eye should I look in? Does it depend on context? Please help me out here XD
I really struggle with eye contact so I'd suggest looking at their eyes for like 3 secs but look at their nose most of the time. That's what I do and no one has said that I'm unnerving them so I think its all good
(For context, I am autistic) Hi everyone, When I was a kid, I was told I didn't look people in the eye enough. But now I think I've overcorrected, because now I unnerve people by looking in their eye too much. What's the appropriate level of eye contact when talking to someone? Which eye should I look in? Does it depend on context? Please help me out here XD
Lol yeah, you need a certain amount of eye-contact... no eye contact may make you come across as rude, and uninterested'; on the other hand, you'll scare them off if you stare like a psycho.
I'll tell you a trick you can do to maintain a comfortable amount of eye-contact:- First form a triangle between the eyes and mouth, and when talking momentarily shift your focal point(s) between these three points (N.B. if you find it difficult looking into people's eyes, you can substitute the eye for eyebrows or the corner of glasses frame; they won't notice the difference). This is fine for most business and social interactions. However, if it's a flirting thing, you can sometimes swap the mouth for a very quick (split-second) glance at the chest (N.B. don't do this too often if you're a (straight) guy, as she may think you're perving over her cleavage lol... but a couple of glances during a conversation should be OK).
Lol yeah, you need a certain amount of eye-contact... no eye contact may make you come across as rude, and uninterested'; on the other hand, you'll scare them off if you stare like a psycho. I'll tell you a trick you can do to maintain a comfortable amount of eye-contact:- First form a triangle between the eyes and mouth, and when talking momentarily shift your focal point(s) between these three points (N.B. if you find it difficult looking into people's eyes, you can substitute the eye for eyebrows or the corner of glasses frame; they won't notice the difference). This is fine for most business and social interactions. However, if it's a flirting thing, you can sometimes swap the mouth for a very quick (split-second) glance at the chest (N.B. don't do this too often if you're a (straight) guy, as she may think you're perving over her cleavage lol... but a couple of glances during a conversation should be OK).
Thank you! Didn't know there was such an exact science about it lol. I'll be sure to practice next time I'm talking ^^