Asuncion, Rachel Comm 3 WFW-1

2014-23955 Prof. Mark Cancino

PERSUASIVE SPEECH PLAN

(Speech to Actuate)

Title: Kamusta?
TOPIC: Practicing empathy and listening: addressing a shared need by caring and listening
Specific Speech Purpose: To persuade my audience to realize the implications of making people feel
valued al beit in the simplest way and to make them act on it
Thesis Statement: We, as students and friends, should be willing and ready to practice empathy and
express concern for other people in order to forge stronger relationships and increase the overall sense of
happiness and/or emotional security of the people around us.

I. Introduction
a. Attention/Credibility material: At one point, have you ever found yourself longing for someone to
just ask you how youre doing? For someone to just take time to talk to you, to care and to lend
their ear to listen. If Im being honest and if you could too, we can all attest to the fact that
weve felt that way one time or another. We are all familiar with spending too much time living in
our heads, but we all share a common need: to be cared for and to be heard.
b. Tie to the audience: As college students, millennials as some have been calling us, we live very
fast-paced lives. Running to and from the school, to the place where we live, to the next org
tambayan to the other, and to other places we need to go. Pressure from academics, family
problems, relationships, orgwork, etc etc although being responsibilities that are very social in
nature can sometimes catch up with us and render us tired, vulnerable and lonely. What can we do
for ourselves and for others then?
c. Thesis and Preview: Today, we will look at making time to ask how people are doing and
genuinely caring. I will cover the following points: First, the need for empathy, next its
implications, and finally the ease of being empathic and how to go about with it.

[Transition to body of speech]

II. Body
a. Need:
 i. At this moment, we are more polarized, we are more divided, than we ever have been in
history. (Pew Research, 2014)
ii. Reports that there is evidence that our lifestyle is bad for our mental and emotional state of
mind. (Heck, 2015)
iii. If it were you in the position of need, you would also want to be extended the same
courtesy.
b. Satisfaction/Solution: Fortunately, we can all contribute to addressing this problem albeit in the
simplest way:
i. This is through empathizing and listening to what people have to say.
1. Empathy is the "capacity" to share and understand anothers "state of
mind" or emotion. It is often characterized as the ability to put oneself
into anothers shoes, or in some way experience the outlook or emotions
of another being within oneself. (Ioannidou, 2008)
2. Empathy as a tool for addressing vulnerability and loneliness
ii. Empathy can be expressed not only by speaking over the person but by listening.
1. Be a bit kinder than you would normally be. (Miriam, 2011)
2. Dont make it about you. (Miriam, 2011)
3. Listen to the other person and be in the moment (Headlee, 2015)

c. Visualization/Call for Action:

i. Ask how people are. It would only take a minute.
ii. We can visualize the benefits of empathic listening by thinking, What if no one did this for
me?
iii. If for anything else, be the impetus to a pay it forward chain. (Do unto other what you
want others to do unto you)

III. Conclusion
a. Brakelight/Transition: Pay the act forward. Ask someone how theyre doing today and actually
make an effort to listen and care. You may not be able to fully engage them in conversation but
you would definitely leave a reminder that someone cares for them and is willing to listen.
b. Summary
c. Tie Back to the Audience: What if it were you in the position in need of a Kamusta or a How
are you? Think of the comfort and satisfaction knowing that you arent alone and that someone
is willing to listen to your problems Cause most often than not, I assure you, that is the case.
 d. Concluding Remarks

Oftentimes the importance of empathy is often underestimated. It should be taught in primary school
by teachers in cooperation with the pupils' families. Kids are encouraged to learn new computer
programs, to solve tough mathematics problems, and to play new music instruments. They should be
encouraged to become empathic people who empathize with problems of the family members, their
classmates, and their acquaintances. By doing so, we would make our lives much more meaningful and
joyful. On the contrary, insensitivity and indifference to others agony and suffering will end up being in a
world where people live without any feeling or feeling everything at once and not being to do anything
about it. It isnt too late for us though, we can all play our part and pay the favor of caring forward. Let us
affect change and help those in need around us albeit in the simplest way of caring, talking and listening.
I believe we all have a bit of empathy in our hearts. Please let it show!
 Works Cited:

Pew Research. (2014 June). Political Polarization in the American Public: How Increasing Ideological

Uniformity and Partisan Antipathy Affect Politics, Compromise and Everyday Life. Retrieved

from http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/

Heck, L. (2015 November). A generation on edge: A look at millennials and mental health.

VOX Magazine.

Headlee, C. (2015). 10 ways to have better conversation. TEDxCreativeCoast. Savannah: United

States.

Ioannidou, F. (2008 December). Empathy and emotional intelligence: What is it really about?.

International Journal of Caring Sciences, 1(3):118123

Miriam, P. (2011 December). How to Be There for a Depressed Person. [web article]. Brute

Reason. Retrieved from https://brutereason.net/2011/12/11/how-to-be-there-for-a-

depressed-person/