Eye contact is important when giving a talk. If you find it unpleasant to look people in the eye, you can look just above the audience and will achieve the same effect of the audience feeling seen, and you not just bumbling to the screen.
Eye contact can be unpleasant to give but also to receive. Personally, I cannot hold eye contact for a long time, but several close colleagues struggle with this even stronger. It is perhaps related to being on the spectrum, perhaps personal preference, perhaps how socially safe you feel in the situation. I curious to what degree inability to hold eye contact limits people’s social status.
In any case, it is important to realize how important eye contact is for the other person and calibrate accordingly. If my opposite needs it to feel trust and a human connection, I give a bit more than feels comfortable to me. If I feel they cannot stand it, I avoid long eye contacts and make by gaze wonder across the room while I go on a tangent in the conversation.
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