How to Attract the Eyes in Your Multi-Media Presentation

Two Key Principles of Eye Movement

Let’s look at two important principles of presenting with a computer and screen.

Our Eyes are Attracted to Light

Perhaps you have noticed when walking or driving at night that your eyes flash to the source of the brightest light.

You can use this attraction to light principle in the development and delivery of your presentation. When presenting you should always stand in the brightest light so people focus on you. Have the lights slightly dimmer at the back of the room. Bright lights at the back or side of the room will continually distract them.

On a screen it is easier to read lighter coloured letters on a darker coloured background. Our eyes are naturally attracted to the lighter letters – just where we want them to focus. (But don't use white on black. It's eye catching but difficult to read.) 

In contrast black letters on a white background is punishing to our eyes Because it is a light-emitting source our eyes are naturally attracted to the light background. Meanwhile we are forcing our eyes to focus on the black letters. This creates an internal conflict, which tires and annoys. The other pain this type of slide inflicts is that the eyes spend most of the time looking at the bright white light – which tires first the eyes and secondly the person.

Our Eyes are Attracted to Motion

For our cave-dwelling ancestors this was probably an important survival trait because movement signified either food or danger.

When you are speaking don’t have things moving on the screen because people will watch the movement and ignore what you say. Our brain can generally do one thing well at a time – watch or listen. Watching seems to take precedence. When you want people to look at the screen, gesture towards the screen then stand still. To recapture their attention after they have been studying the screen – take a step, stop, and then speak. Your movement draws their attention back to you. This principle explains why we easily get distracted by the speaker fidgeting or pacing. 

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Impressive PowerPoint Presentation for a change

Enjoy this PowerPoint presentation with lots of powerful visuals - along with tips of how to do it yourself. As you view this, remember that PowerPoint is best when used as a visual medium. Text is not a visual even when displayed on a screen. Text is simply text and that does not reach the visual learners.

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Presentation Tips on Twitter Presentation Skills Club on Facebook
Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives

What if Your PowerPoint Slides Make You a Liar?

The marketing director of a well known Internet company presented us with fascinating stats about Internet use and users.

I was captivated by the numbers and percentages until he reached the graph slide in his PowerPoint presentation.

One of my colleagues raised his hand to ask a question. The presenter innocently paused to take the question and was blindsided by what happened next.

My colleague boldly announced that the graph slide was wrong. The data clusters clearly could not be true for the axis defined in the example. When this was pointed out I could see his point. The graph was bogus. The marketing director tried to recover by accepting that the “data” illustrated on the slide was indeed bogus but that it was only for illustration purposes. My colleague continued to point out that because the data represented was bogus therefore anything else the marketing director said was thus suspect.

The marketing director stumbled as he attempted to skate by the flaw and continue to use the questionable slide for his example. My colleague persisted to the point of sounding angry. The marketing director finally conceded and moved on to the next slide and announced that the bogus slide would not be used again.

I was intrigued by the exchange and the impact on the room. Most of the audience knew of my colleague’s expertise and most likely “sided” with him on the point of credibility. The dispute ruined the flow of the presentation and hurt the presenter’s credibility. The presenter first attempted to continue what was clearly a flawed example. He attempted to belittle the flaw.

Most importantly the presenter failed to do three things:

He did not thank my colleague for being so astute.

He did not apologize for the error, (attempted deception).

And because of that he failed to clarify what I suspect was an important point.


You can take a few presentation learning points from this incident.

Don’t use PowerPoint slides prepared by someone else until you understand them fully.

When you use a PowerPoint presentation prepared by someone else – the audience will hold you accountable for errors.

Never use an illustration that is not representative of reality.

Not everyone raising their hand is asking a friendly question. Be prepared for the unexpected attack during your presentation.

When you are clearly wrong – apologize to the audience and thank the person who pointed out your error.


George Torok

The Speech Coach for Executives




Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

PowerPoint Exposed

If you or someone you care about uses PowerPoint in your presentations then you will find these articles helpful. They might save you some embarrassment, might rescue a big sales presentation and might rejuvenate your career.

Don’t be seduced by the “ease of use” of PowerPoint. Don’t become a PowerPoint body-snatcher. Don’t check your brains at the door because of PowerPoint.



PowerPoint Sins
PowerPoint Sins, errors, and myths you must avoid when presenting with PowerPoint. Giving presentations is a privilege and opportunity - not a right. Please stop sinning while you present. If you must use PowerPoint or other computer projection – learn these sins and avoid them. Read PowerPoint Sins



Presentation Power does not come from PowerPoint
How do you present yourself with power? Don't be fooled by the name. There is no implied power in PowerPoint. Have you noticed how many presenters use PowerPoint and do not have power? That should be your first clue. PowerPoint is easy-to-use software. It seduces you into believing… Read Presentation Power does not come from PowerPoint



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When was the last time you sat through a terrible presentation using computer projection? When was the last time you gave one? If you want to avoid disaster and give your career a boost then apply these ten tips the next time you... Read 10 Power Tips for Presentations with Computer Projection


PowerPoint is a registered trademark of Microsoft.

Remember, friends don’t let friends present with PowerPoint without reading the above life-saving articles.


George Torok
Speech Coach for Executives