DE&I: Putting Thoughts into Action: Empathy

How are we, as moderators, able to successfully interview and discern insights from anyone who differs from our own socio-economic standing? The answer: empathy!

Empathy is a key to unlocking understanding by listening to other people. The challenge for insights professionals is how to transfer that empathy to clients and their organizations in a way that inspires action.

Are there limits to who and what we can build empathy with? For example: If we’ve never experienced racism directly, how can a non-BIPOC moderator adequately express an understanding of what BIPOC face on a daily basis? And if we can’t express our understanding, how can we help our clients and others take action?

Taking a Learn, Practice, Apply approach during this 90-minute interactive workshop, Rob Volpe, Empathy Activist and CEO of Ignite 360 will lead us on strengthening our empathy muscles and how to put empathy into action.

Using interview footage from Ignite 360’s Navigating to a New Normal longitudinal study, workshop attendees will view interview footage of conversations that may be push us into discomfort. In safe, small group discussion people will then be able to practice the skills they learned in the study.

At the end of the session, attendees will have learned…
- The 5 Steps to Empathy
- Real life stories of prejudice and intolerance from respondents
- How to show empathy with these respondents yourself and help the client get there as well