Communicating confidently and effectively; working collaboratively; solving complex problems; time management - all of these are considered soft skills, and none of them come naturally. Excelling at any of these “soft” skills could taking courses to learn more about the tools, asking a mentor to guide you when you feel overwhelmed, and engaging in a ton of trial and error when it matters the most.

Soft skills are anything but soft; they are competencies. We must consistently and actively work at developing these abilities so we can be successful teammates, managers, leaders and coworkers. And there’s one skill above all that can get you there faster: empathy.

This talk will teach you to turn empathy into a behavior. We will determine empathy’s importance in a corporate as well as team setting. We’ll define how empathy impacts team performance and productivity. And we’ll break down the framework that turns empathy from an idea to an action.

Sharon Steed is an international keynote speaker, author and founder of Communilogue, a corporate empathy and communications consultancy. She is a subject matter expert on empathy at work, and she