How to Be More Empathetic: Honor People’s Emotions

In today’s episode, we interview Brian Fox as he teaches us how to be more empathetic through honoring people’s emotions.

The Six Rules of applying Improv to Empathy:

In order to learn how to be more empathetic, Brian teaches us the six rules of Improv and explains how it connects to empahty.

Rule #1 Listen

Listen with your whole self – listen to the person behind that little screen with your ears, your eyes, your gut, and your heart.

Rule #2 Embrace the Silence

Embrace the Silence – you give the other person permission to truly hear themselves

Rule #3 Accept

Accept – Accept what is presented to you, accept the other person’s truth, accept how they see things

Rule #4 Acknowledge

 Acknowledge their thoughts and feelings – let them know you heard them

Rule #5 Appreciate

Appreciate something positive about the person – a value, that they trust you, and always avoid judgment

Rule #6 Avoid

Avoid giving Advice – Instead support the person in understanding his/her own situation

Tips for Virtual Meetings

Give people all of your attention at virtual meetings

People are taking for granted virtual meetings. Honor people’s emotions by looking at the camera, paying attention, and making eye contact to make people feel like they’re actually communicating with you.

Virtual Meeting Leaders Should Become Talk Show Hosts

Leaders who run virtual meetings should look at their role as a talk show host. They should not take for granted the importance of entertainment and connection as well as identifying the types of emotion they want attendees to feel at the beginning, middle and end of each “show”.

Share Stories to Connect

Focus on how you can share stories, like a talk show host, not to “trump” other people’s stories inside meetings, but to genuinely connect with them.

Another major concept of Improv is to “Make Your Partner Look Good.”  Today’s Leaders, given technology and separation, must see themselves as Talk Show Hosts!  Great Hosts are purposeful, interested, entertaining, flexible, and create a great mood of candor and fun.

Virtual Team Building Ideas

Intentional & Goofy Check-Ins

Describe what you want this week to look like in the form of your favorite music, lyric, quote or film.

Virtual Museum Tour

Have a watch party for a 15-minute museum tour and 15 minutes of discussion.

TED Talk Watch Party

Find a TED talk for everyone to watch together that has to do with the bottom line of the business.

Links:

To hear the full story and get tips on how to be more empathetic, listen to the full episode today.

Online Leadership Courses to Lead a Team From Anywhere:

Check out these online courses for remote leaders from the Team Anywhere Team.

How to Be an Effective Remote Manager | How to Build Virtual Accountability

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This episode is brought to you by Marymount University, School of Business and Technology: innovative solutions up-skilling for the what’s next economy. Oyster Organizational Development dedicated to higher performance, business success, and leveraging team. And Wejungo designing customized talent acquisition solutions.