Ask a friend or a member of your family to think of something that happened recently that made them feel an emotion. It doesn’t have to be a big event. Ask them to try and think of something other than happy or sad.
Now show them the picture of the light switch and tell them to imagine they have a “listening switch” in their heads. Switching it on will mean they will listen with empathy.
Ask your friend or family member to tell you their story about the event and emotion. You need to listen 100%! When they've finished telling you about what happened to them, check that you have understood how they felt. 'So you felt... because...?
Then swap and see if your friend or family member can also turn on their listening switch and really listen to you.
When you've both had a go, explore how being listened to felt: how did it make you feel to be listened to very carefully? Did your friend or family member understand your feelings? How do you know? How often do you listen to people with your empathy switch? Might you use it more? What problems could be solved if people used their empathy switches more?
