Want to succeed in the art of persuasion? AVOID eye contact:

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Locking glances can lower your chance of winning a person over
The finding is only true if someone is sceptical of the speaker to begin with
The longer they hold eye contact, the more sceptical they will become
Locking eyes can boost receptiveness if person already agrees with speaker
By ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD
PUBLISHED: 07:55 EST, 2 October 2013 | UPDATED: 07:55 EST, 2 October 2013

If you want to persuade someone to do your bidding don't look them in the eye, according to new research.
A new study has shown that - contrary to common belief - locking eyes with someone when the aim is to persuade actually harms the chances of winning them over.
So demanding ‘look at me when I talk to you’ of someone may not have the desired effect after all.

Experts say that eye contact with opponents in adversarial situations makes them more resistant to persuasion, although it still works as a sign of connection in ‘friendly’ situations.
Neurobiologist Dr Frances Chen explained: ‘There is a lot of cultural lore about the power of eye contact as an influence tool.

But our findings show that direct eye contact makes sceptical listeners less likely to change their minds, not more, as previously believed.
‘Eye contact is so primal that we think it probably goes along with a whole suite of subconscious physiological changes.’

In a study carried out with colleagues at the University of Freiburg, Germany, Dr Chen first noticed the negative effects eye contact had on persuasion.
Her team used cutting-edge eye-tracking technology to monitor how long participants looked straight into the eyes of someone speaking on a video, then measured how far their attitudes on controversial issues had shifted.

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