The Importance of communication skills for engineers

"I contend that we (engineers) are undervalued because of our widespread inability to explain what we do to the general public (and why it is so important). It is one of the hardest goals to accomplish, to be able to boil down difficult concepts into a short and easily understood presentation or elevator pitch." 

Marybeth Miceli, President, Miceli Infrastructure Consulting, USA (2011) 

This short paragraph expresses the viewpoint of an engineer, where she thinks that this widespread inability to effectively communicate the nature and significance of engineering work to the general public is the key factor contributing to the undervalued of engineers, as it is challenging to break down complex concepts into a concise and easily comprehensible presentation or elevator pitch for people who do not have an engineering background.