This work explores the role rhetorical listening plays in writing center praxis. Currentscholarship on listening in writing center pedagogy has yet to examine this essentialtutoring practice. The author argues that Krista Ratcliffe’s rhetorical listening offers thetheoretical framework that will allow writing centers to fulfill their pedagogical goal ofempowering students. Exploring examples from his own tutoring experiences andpublished tutoring narratives, the author shows how Ratcliffe’s rhetorical listeningexpands tutoring praxis to better meet the needs of tutees. Rhetorical listening movestutors into a sense of awareness concerning the complex experiences each tutee bringsinto a session. Recognizing this complexity, tutors work from a perspective that focuseson student need rather than institutional concern.