“When I finally walked onto stage the first thing I did was make eye contact with several people in the audience. I asked the stage managers to bring up the houselights so I could see people. I needed to feel connected. Simply seeing people as people rather than 'the audience' reminded me that the challenges that scare me- like being naked- scare everyone else. I think that's why empathy can be conveyed without speaking a word- it just takes looking into someone's eyes and seeing yourself reflected back in an engaged way.”