Chapter 24
Understanding Check
This exercise asks people to paraphrase a previous speaker's comments to ensure they have accurately understood what they said. When a paraphrase is perceived to be inaccurate, the previous speaker explains what has been misunderstood.
Purposes
- To practice active listening
- To practice accurate paraphrasing
- To teach people to check their understandings are accurate
- To demonstrate how easy it is to misinterpret someone's original meaning
- To avoid people attributing words and ideas that speakers did not express
How It Works
- Before a discussion everyone agrees to the Understanding Check ground rule, which holds that when anyone calls out “check for understanding,” the next to speak summarizes the previous ...
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