One of the things we lack as speakers on a large stage is the blank stare

of our audience, even more so when the large stage is virtual, so

that you're looking into a camera.

In a one-on-one conversation or in a meeting, the blank stare

informs us about our blind spots.

If we're being fuzzy, or if our words feel too abstract, we

will usually see it immediately reflected on other people's faces.

Which in turn will lead us to look for different, clearer

ways of saying the same thing.

So, the blank stare helps us to figure out what's clear to us, but

makes no sense for our audience.

And this kind of information is missing on a stage.

And we can't reliably find that out while practicing alone, because we're

all affected by the curse of knowledge.

When everything is clear to us, it's hard to see what still

remains unclear to others.

We need other people's help to figure that out.

Alone, in our office, we lack these blank stares, the kind of stares

that make us look for simpler ways of explaining our idea.

Practicing in front of a small live audience helps, as do private

conversations with friends.

Use these as a testing environment for the clarity of your communication.

Sadly though, many speakers tend to avoid these situations because

a blank stare embarrasses them.

I think that that's a mistake.

The blank stare is our friend.

It allows us to fix our blind spots.

So, look for and embrace blank stares.