Who will listen to us in a business meeting if we sound less than confident? What will audience members walk away with from a presentation if our body language says we are not quite sure what we are saying? If we are in a conflict situation and lack confidence, what might be the kind of potential outcome? Why would the party across from us in a negotiation believe in either our knowledge or our conviction in the absence of confidence? How do we persuade someone to buy or act on our recommendations if we are second-guessing something we said?

In these essential skills of business place communication, each of them has at least two common denominators: listening and confidence. Any communication situation like the examples above can move along although they succeed with best results when the speaker is listened to.

But without confidence, communication...