Normally, I’d say that keeping your head down isn’t a good idea as a presenter and public speaker – too much hiding your light under a bushel doesn’t get you very far sometimes…
There is just one time though – and it’s pretty literal – when you should keep our head down though.
We all have a tendency to raise our heads when we’re anxious/nervous (and when we’re working in stepped auditoria) – we tip them backwards, raising our eyes. My hunch is that it’s something to do with wanting to see danger coming from as far away as possible but I can’t be sure. The advantage is that you get to see your audience’s eyes (always a good thing) but there is a huge downside – tipping your head back tightens your throat.
…. and a tight throat means you sound stressed and anxious (even if you’re not). It’s important for your credibility to keep your head down. By that, I don’t mean that you should pull your head down into your shoulders – but instead you should keep it it tipped down/forwards… lower your jaw so that you’re natural eye-line holds to hit the floor at about five or six metres away. If you’re like most people, that’ll probably feel very un-natural as we’re almost all conditioned to tip our heads up – it’s a natural stress response and we’re a pretty high-stressed society – but it’s worth the effort.
Other than it feeling odd, the hard part will be to keep your shoulders down and stay relaxed but with just a little practice you’ll find it can make a huge difference to how you sound when you’re presenting. Even if you’re not confident, you can sound it….
