Eye contact is the rarest thing you can give someone now. Give it on purpose.

Almost every interaction now happens with at least one person looking at something else. Against that background, steady eye contact reads as unusual, and what it communicates is simple: nothing is currently competing with you. It is a small physical act that carries more weight than it used to, because the supply has dropped so far.

Try it in three places this week. When somebody hands you something, when a friend is telling you a long story, when you say thank you. Not a stare, just the normal amount held a beat longer. Watch what it does to the other person’s face.