Confidence is a red herring. No is confident in any thing, but any one can share about his passions and hobbies , which makes for fearless conversation.
Empathy blabla... nope, not true. Women find it not erotic to have feminine traits in a man. If you have empathy, use it as a tealthy tool to read the woman beyond what she is telling you.
As for being a good listener, it depends. Women do not want the listener who finds solutions to her problems. She does not like Mr Fix it, teachers and men in position of adversaries. They want someone to make them talk and act like he is not against her as a result.
However, again, masculine man behavior, as opposed to little boy, generally does not listen to woman and let alone believe them. Once you act as an adult leader, you do not have to believe or listen to what she says but set the priorities and tell what your tastes are, and since women have no idea what theirs are, they will live through yours.
True that.
Women often talk to vent. Don't try to fix it for them or condemn her for how she's feeling.
If in doubt, ask her if she wants you to help her fix it.
By just spending the time listening, it tells her you care about her, that she's important enough to you to spend time on without it having to lead to sex.
Because even for a woman who likes sex, no woman wants to feel like that's the only thing her husband cares to interact with her for. That leads to feeling used and I guarantee you, she doesn't want to feel like you're using her just to satisfy your sex drive and pretending like you're doing her a favor.