Outside the classroom, these attributes will enhance your personal, professional, and civic life. Sensitivity to others and to their perspectives will help you in personal relationships as well as when, for instance, you speak to neighborhood groups, Scout troops, parent-teacher associations, or religious organizations. Employers and career counselors often put “good communication skills” at the top of the list of qualities they seek in people.2 The reason is simple: Each year our economy becomes more dependent on information and the ability to communicate it. Your study of public speaking also will help make you a more competent, more active citizen. You will be better able to understand public issues and controversies, to decide what you think about them, and to participate effectively in addressing them—whether on your campus, in your neighborhood, or in the larger public forum.