Empowering Public Speaking Students Through Consultant Training in Empathetic Listening

Abstract

Public speaking centers have the potential to act as places of empowerment for public speaking students as they craft speeches and hone public speaking abilities. Peer consultants in speaking centers are uniquely positioned to serve as sources of empowerment for their peers. Building on current literature around empathetic listening in the center, this essay discusses the role empathetic listening plays in the empowerment of public speaking students and best practices for teaching empathetic listening skills to peer consultants.