What part of their anatomy are your associates talking
through? Their eyes? Their ears? Their gut?
(We all perceive the world through five senses. We see the
world. We hear the world. We feel the world. We smell the world.
And we taste the world.)
suppose a business colleague describing a
financial plan says, “With this plan, we can see our way clear in
six months.” Since this time she’s using primarily visual references,say “I see what you mean” or “You really have a clear picture of
that situation.”
If, instead, your colleague had said, “This plan has a good ring
to it,” you’d substitute auditory empathizers like “It does sound
great,” or “I hear you.”
A third possibility. Suppose she had said, “I have a gut feeling
this plan will work.” Now you give her a kinesthetic empathizer
like “I can understand how you feel,” or “You have a good grasp
of that problem.”