Communicating well

Communicating well requires great quantities of self-confidence and empathy. Self-confidence gives you the courage and drive to find your personal vision -- a story you believe in. Empathy gives you the ability to understand how your story, how your words appear to the audience. Self-confidence means knowing what you believe in, without being overly concerned with the opinions of others. Empathy means caring about the abstract feelings of abstract people. Self-confidence and empathy -- two qualities that seem to be at odds with one another, yet they combine to form a potent combination in the great writer or speaker.