The Fine Art of Paraphrasing A paraphrase is a concise response to the speaker which states the essence of the speaker's content in the listener's own words. H Do be concise. When people begin using this skill, they tend to be too wordy. Sometimes the paraphrase is even longer than the speaker's message. When a paraphrase is not succinct, the speaker's train of thought can be derailed. The effective listener (docent) learns to condense her responses. H Do reflect only the essentials. An effective paraphrase reflects only the essentials of the speaker's message. The listener develops a sense of what is central in the speaker's message. H Do focus on the content. Paraphrasing focuses on the content of the speaker's message. It deals with the facts or ideas rather than the emotions the speaker is sending. H Do summarize. An effective paraphrase is summarized in the listener's own words. H Do include "art words". Words like line, color, theme, balance, texture, composition, space help our visitors to increase their art knowledge. H Don’t parrot or repeat verbatim the speaker’s words. There is an enormous difference between parroting and paraphrasing. Parroting can stifle a conversation, while paraphrasing can contribute to communication. H Don't add your own bias. You are there to support the speaker's response, not your own. H Don't judge the message. Our visitors come in all stages of enlightenment on the path to understanding art and we are helping them on that path. – Paraphrased from People Skills by Robert Bolton (Published by Simon & Schuster in 1989; paperback editions available)
(This guide was distributed at the April 13, 2009 Brown Bag training session)