Communication Skills: Paraphrasing Relationships

Skills Paper (Draft)
As a married woman, I know all to well how communication can affect your relationship with your partner or significant other. While communication skills are vital towards a lasting relationship, effective communication is a necessity with everyone you may encounter. Communication is the foundation for which all cultures, despite age or gender, convey messages through nonverbal or verbal cues. What you say, or don’t say, will have a significant impact on how your message is interpreted and even how you perceive others. The most effective communicators acquire their skills by practicing techniques throughout their daily lives. In an attempt to become a more successful communicator, I have adopted three main communication …show more content…
In order you use this skill you must first understand that messages come in two forms. The first is context or what is said. This is your verbal channel. Second is the relationship component, or the emotions that we express while delivering our message to our counterpart (Communication Skills Handout). Sean had told me about his cousin having a baby. He told me how he didn’t understand how even though his cousin knew we had troubles trying to conceive that he continually talked about how easy it was to get pregnant. Sean was very livid in his retelling of the conversation. I replied with “You must be upset that your cousin is oblivious to our issues and only cares to give his own opinion.” This simple sentence showed that I understood his feeling on the matter and listened to his story. The use of paraphrasing is a great tool in maintaining an open dialogue where you are able to provide meaningful feedback to the …show more content…
A perception check is used whenever you are not entirely sure what is being communicated (Communication Skills Handout). This is a three-step process, first describe your perception, second offer at least two possible interpretations, and lastly request clarification. For example Sean got up the other day and made breakfast, he also did the dishes as well. This is something he doesn’t do often. As I usually would assume this meant he wanted something or there might be a hidden agenda I decided to try this approach. I said “I see that you have made us a beautiful breakfast this morning. I’m wondering if there is either bad news you are going to give me, or there is some reason to celebrate. Would you like to comment? His response was simple, “Babe I just felt like doing something nice for you.” Had I not used this process I could have made an otherwise wonderful morning into something entirely