The philosopher Simone Weil believed that attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. Not attention as in being noticed, but as something you actively give.

To truly attend to someone and offer them your undivided presence is one of the most profound things that one person can offer another.

Magnetism isn't something you project outward, it forms in how generous you are with your attention. When someone is fully present, your nervous system feels it before a word is spoken.

The most captivating people aren't necessarily the most accomplished, they're the ones most fascinated by others and most open to experiences beyond their own. They’re genuinely curious and not trying to impress, and it feels grounding. There is nothing more magnetic than someone who makes you feel truly heard.

Presence is less about grand gestures and more about small, intentional ones. Putting your phone away when someone is speaking. Listening not just to reply, but to understand.

Someone I find genuinely magnetic does something I've been trying to practise myself: she always waits for the other person to fully finish before she speaks. We tend to get excited, wanting to cut in or complete someone's sentence, rushing to the end instead of letting them arrive there. Watching her made me realise how rarely we do this, and how much it means when someone does.

These things sound simple, but they ask something real of you, especially in a world that is always trying to optimise the outcome. Even in conversations, we're already thinking about what we want to say next rather than being in the exchange. The listening becomes a means to an end rather than the thing itself.

When you offer someone attention and presence, you give them something rare. And they'll remember it.