Two-Second Empathy

Erin and a participant chat during Compassionate Coaching’s workshop “Practice Those Pesky Conversations” at the AWE Women in Business Summit, March 2023.

Hey, World. I’m on a mission. I’m going to infuse more empathy into ya.

It seems like a tall order, and it’s actually easier than you think. In fact, it can take as little as two seconds to offer verbal empathy.

Let’s pretend a coworker just shared that she’s struggling with her caseload: “It’s so overwhelming!” Try one of the following statements that take two seconds or less:

• Wow….

• Tell me more….

• SO challenging….

• SO overwhelming (or whatever word she used)….

Then - and this is important - you’ve got to pause. (So, okay, technically the whole process takes longer than two seconds.) Let her respond. She might say something or just sigh. It’s necessary to give time for your empathy to “land.”

Try it out, and let me know how it goes!