How did you use your listening time during this communication transaction?

Paraphrasing is defined as reflecting back to your partner the content and feelings of his message in your own words (Brownell, 2002). Paraphrasing allows you to evaluate your understanding of the speaker’s message and her feelings. Clearly this is a skill that can assist you in being empathetic towards others. You may have a false sense of confidence in your understanding of the interaction and thus paraphrasing can be a very useful skill.

A paraphrase should include the following:

the general gist of the message the speaker delivered, relayed in your words rather than a regurgitation of the speaker’s message word for word
your perception of what the speaker is feeling, considering what emotions are attached to the message
Paraphrasing is used for many listening purposes but it is most commonly used for comprehensive and therapeutic listening (although many critical listeners could benefit from the use of paraphrasing as well). The exercise below focuses on more of a comprehensive listening purpose (listening to understand).

After you have read all of the readings for Week 4, serve as a listener for someone discussing the following topic: What can be done to establish a lasting peace in the Middle East?

This exercise is more valuable and difficult if you select someone who holds a different view than the one you embrace. It is especially challenging to see if you can get through the interaction without sharing your viewpoint.

After your communication partner has spoken for three to five minutes, paraphrase your partner’s views, and ask them if you are accurate. If they confirm your accuracy of understanding, answer the questions below. If the accuracy of your understanding is not confirmed by your partner, continue listening and paraphrasing until it is confirmed. Then answer the questions below. Be descriptive in your answers and number your responses.

1. How did you use your listening time during this communication transaction?

2. Did paraphrasing enable you to withhold evaluation of the speaker’s message? Why?

3. How well do you understand your partner’s views?

4. From this exercise, what did you learn about your listening?

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