1. A method of using a speech focus to allocate speech processing resources in a speech processing system comprising at least one electronic processor, the speech processing system having a plurality of speech-enabled applications that share speech processing resources of the speech processing system, the plurality of speech-enabled applications gaining access to the speech processing resources only after obtaining the speech focus, the method comprising: establishing a waiting queue adapted to order in priority requests from any of the plurality of speech-enabled applications waiting to obtain the speech focus; establishing a default focus receiver to override at least some default speech behavior of the speech processing system; placing the default focus receiver in the waiting queue at a priority level above the default speech behavior, such that when none of the plurality of speech-enabled applications are requesting the speech focus the default focus receiver obtains the speech focus; detecting a speech processing event occurrence requiring an allocation of at least a portion of the shared speech processing resources; if the waiting queue does not include requests from any of the plurality of speech-enabled applications, determining whether the default focus receiver comprises an event handler having override behavior for occurrence of the speech processing event; performing at least one speech processing action in accordance with machine-readable instructions of the event handler if the event handler is determined to have override behavior for occurrence of the speech processing event occurrence; and performing at least one speech processing action in accordance with machine-readable instructions defining the default speech behavior if the event handler is determined not to have override behavior for occurrence of the speech processing event.