This article explores the conversational use of the Finnish particle siis -translatable as ‘therefore/so’ or ‘that is’- to precede highly emotive utterances. Speakers apparently employ stance-linked siis-prefacing when discussing A-events, drawn from speaker biography, known to the speaker yet not automatically to the interlocutor, and which thus may not be fittingly appreciated or supported by one's interlocutor. The article discusses the emotive work that siis-prefaced turns achieve and examines their ability to elicit empathic moments in their specific sequential settings.