Okay, I love this idea about being smart versus sounding smart. So what about confidence? How does confidence play in? >> Well, you're right. We do have to worry about confidence when we write. I call that concept, owning your ideas. It fits with our third best writing practice, be the authority. Let's talk about what that means. A lot of writers have trouble putting their ideas out there without qualifying them with the language that they choose. So, instead of saying something like, the retail market provided our best opportunity for growth, they might say, in my opinion, the retail market might provide a potential opportunity for growth. You see the problem? First of all, the second version adds words to the sentence, which adds complexity and wastes your reader's time. We know that's bad. But more importantly, the second version robs the writer of their authority and their confidence. There are too many indefinite statements in the second sentence. Now I, as the reader, have to do extra work. Is the retail market the place we really want to be, or not? I don't know, this is frustrating. It wastes my time. Your audience, your co-workers, and your bosses want to work with someone who's an authority. Who understands the situation and offers well reasoned, well presented solutions, analysis, and conclusion, and who does it efficiently. In this specialization, we're going to teach you how to translate your smarts and your ideas to the page in this way. Remember, your audience wants to work with someone who's smart and capable. Their rooting for you to succeed. They don't want to have to do the extra work that it takes to root out your meaning if you don't seem confident. You're an accomplished professional, you're smart, these are your ideas, you have done the thinking, you should own them, you should give yourself the credit that you deserve in the way that you choose to present your ideas in writing. Here's a very practical tip for how to do it. You want to avoid wishy-washy words like should, maybe, could, might, or think, when you write, as in this example. We think these changes might create the growth we need. That's not authoritative. >> That's not confident at all. Who wants to take advice from somebody who doesn't sound confident? >> That's exactly right. Instead, get comfortable with the idea that you're smart and capable. Don't sell your idea short with your word choices. Let's try an example. Identify the wishy-washy words in this sentence. We think these changes might create the efficiency we could use to further improve our supply chain. Think, might, and could, are all culprits here that rob this statement of authority. Also, the term further improve is really too soft. What does that mean? Surrounded by other wishy-washy words in the sentence, it doesn't seem to mean very much. There's zero authority in this sentence. So, let's cut, we think, and change might to will. Let's change could use to need. Now we have, these changes will create the efficiency we need to further improve our supply chain. That's better. If we cut further, it gets even better. These changes will create the efficiency we need to improve our supply chain. Bam! You see how much more direct and confident that sentence is? It's also shorter. So, we've been authoritative, and we've saved our reader time. It's a win-win. The optional quiz that follows gives you a chance to practice cutting wishy-washy words from sentences, and learning how to add authority to your writing. Give it a little practice. Own the contributions that you have to make. You deserve it.