These days when people hear the word “focus” they assume the topic under discussion will be how the internet causes us to have shorter attention spans, and thus, lack focus.

But today I want to talk about focus in a different context–your focus when you speak. Whether you’re talking one-to-one or to a large audience (where we hope no computers are in sight!) the question remains: what are you focusing on?

I know from years of conducting public speaking workshops, speakers are often focusing on the wrong thing– they are focusing on themselves. Sometimes they’re criticizing themselves for some thing they just said, or they’re focusing on the person in the back row who is reading the newspaper.

Your focus, whenever you speak, should be just one place: on the people you are speaking to. When your focus is elsewhere, it shows. Your voice changes, your eyes shift, you may lose your train of thought. Even worse, your listeners know it.

A good place to practice focus is when you are meeting a friend for coffee or your child asks you something. In these situations, we often allow our attention to be diverted. Or we multitask. Don’t. Give them your complete attention.

Focus is an important factor in many areas of our lives, but never more than we are speaking. When you speak with your focus on your listener, you speak to connect–and that makes your communication more powerful.