---
title: "Empathy"
course: "COMM 180 · Communicate at work"
unit: "Connecting with people"
lesson: 13 of 44
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/communicate-at-work/empathy
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Empathy

Lesson 13 of 44 in **Communicate at work** (COMM 180), unit "Connecting with people". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Define empathy as a communication skill distinct from agreement or sympathy using the Communication Accommodation Theory.
- Identify verbal and nonverbal cues that reveal another person's perspective or emotion.
- Apply empathic responses that acknowledge another person's experience while maintaining a clear purpose.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 13 complete: Empathy."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Adapting communication styles" (lesson 14 of 44), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/communicate-at-work/adapting-communication-styles.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Asking better questions
Next lesson: Adapting communication styles