On a more serious note, eye contact is important. But it really depends on the context or the culture.
In the western world, and in the business context, eye contact is crucial. You should look your interlocutor in the eyes if you want to be percieved as professional and confident. It is also an invitation for trust.
However, when it comes to Asian culture, you should know that for the Japanese, it is disrespectful to look your superior in the eyes. The tie nod is as high as you can go! Otherwise, it will be taken as defiant and disrespectful.
The Chinese, for example, will take your widening of the eyes as a confrontation, even an insult. So make sure you study the body language of each culture before you go into an important business meeting with what you may consider as a foreign culture.
As for the other social and personal contexts, I believe that it will depend on the situation. Some women think that not looking in their eyes is 'charming and cutely shy', others wait for the eye contact in order to try and understand where the other person stands....
Does that always work or is it a universal trend? Not sure I can say so. I think there are many ways of interpreting such a gesture. Try, and you will see.
Oct 26, 10 17:05