importance of cues in paraphrasing

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Essay topics on black friday history for students, how to quote a poem in an essay, enjoy the most creative halloween writing activities, why is paraphrasing important.

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Paraphrasing is a fundamental skill sitting at the crossroads of comprehension, expression, and academic integrity. In academic environment, paraphrasing holds significance due to a number of reasons. It’s an excellent mental workout that pushes the boundaries of your understanding and critical thinking. By rewording, you learn to articulate complex ideas in your own words, an invaluable skill for everyone in all fields. Moreover, paraphrasing plays a key role in maintaining academic integrity, allowing students to incorporate and acknowledge others’ ideas within their work. Continue reading to learn everything about the importance of paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing and Skill Development

When done effectively, paraphrasing has several benefits that simple rewording can’t produce. It is a comprehensive ability that greatly contributes to academic and intellectual development. Let’s look at some of the important advantages:

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Paraphrasing and its impact on academic papers.

Paraphrasing is a part of academic writing. It links current information and fresh discoveries, enabling authors to include authoritative sources into their writings as a careful integration that adds depth and uniqueness. When done well, paraphrasing indicates the author’s understanding of the original material, demonstrating that they not only can grasp complicated topics but also explain them in a new way. This helps to build a stronger, more compelling argument by anchoring theoretical ideas in proven research and avoiding the problems of plagiarism.

Moreover, effective paraphrasing improves the academic paper by introducing diversity in expression and preventing monotony, keeping readers engaged. It allows the writer to maintain a consistent voice throughout the document, creating the paper as a cohesive story rather than a patchwork of disconnected quotations. This coherence is critical for the reader’s understanding and for conveying the author’s perspective on the topic.

Equally important is the ethical aspect of paraphrasing. Properly rephrased and cited, it maintains the integrity of academic work, distinguishing it from plagiarism and unauthorized use of intellectual property. This ethical practice supports the credibility and trustworthiness of the paper itself.

To sum up, paraphrasing significantly impacts academic papers by promoting understanding, originality, and ethical standards. It demonstrates the author’s capacity to participate in and contribute to academic dialogue, making it a valuable skill in the scholarly community. However, paraphrasing may seem quite daunting, so it would be smart to consider using an AI rewording tool to boost the process.

What distinguishes effective paraphrasing from simple rewording?

Effective paraphrasing involves a deep understanding of the original material, allowing the paraphraser to convey the same ideas in a completely new way that reflects their voice and style. True paraphrasing demonstrates comprehension and the ability to critically engage with the text, thereby adding value to the academic discourse. In contrast, simple rewording often results in a piece that is too close to the source, lacking originality and failing to fully grasp the underlying concepts.

Can paraphrasing tools ensure academic integrity?

While paraphrasing tools can aid in rephrasing text, they do not guarantee academic integrity on their own. These tools may provide a starting point for rewriting content, but they often lack the nuance and understanding required for true paraphrasing. Academic integrity involves correctly interpreting and crediting the source material, a process that requires human judgment and ethical consideration. Thus, while paraphrasing tools can be helpful, they should be used cautiously, with the final work carefully reviewed and adjusted to ensure it meets academic standards.

How does paraphrasing contribute to the development of academic writing style?

Paraphrasing contributes to the development of academic writing style by enhancing clarity, precision, and personal voice. It encourages deeper engagement with source material, leading to better critical thinking and analytical skills. Through paraphrasing, writers expand their vocabulary and learn to express complex ideas in their own manner, making their arguments more cohesive.

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Matt Abrahams: The Power of the Paraphrase

An expert on public speaking shows how paraphrasing can help you navigate tricky communication situations.

November 19, 2014

A job seeker raises his hand to ask a question | Reuters/Rick Wilking

When you are giving a public presentation, don’t you hate it when you face … the dreaded question. You know the one: the emotionally loaded challenge that serves to undermine everything you presented prior. You had hoped you wouldn’t get it, but here it is. Or, you may face … the obnoxious meeting participant. You know this guy: He thinks he’s Mr. Smarty-Pants and wants everyone to know it. He ruins your meeting by going on long rants that contribute little and waste much.

These two situations can make even the most confident and calm speaker nervous. One powerful way to navigate your way through these two tricky communication situations is to rely on paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is a listening and reflecting tool where you restate what others say in your own words. The most effective paraphrases concisely capture the essence of what another speaker says. For example, at the end of your presentation a questioner asks: “In the past you have been slow to release new products. How soon will your new product be available?” You might paraphrase her question in one of the following ways:

• “You’re asking about our availability.”
• “You’d like to know about our release schedule.”
• “Our release timeline will be … ”

Effective paraphrasing affords you several benefits. In Q&A sessions, for instance, it allows you to:

Make sure you understood the question correctly. After your paraphrase, the question asker has the opportunity to correct you or refine his or her question. There is no sense in answering a question you were not asked.

Think before you respond. Paraphrasing is not very mentally taxing, so while you are speaking your paraphrase you can begin to think of your response.

Acknowledge emotions prior to addressing the issue(s). Occasionally, you may find yourself confronted with an emotionally laden question. In order to be seen as empathetic, and to get the asker to “hear” your answer, you should recognize the emotion as part of your paraphrase. To a questioner who asks, “I get really exasperated when I try to use some of your features. How are you going to make it easier to use your product?” you might say: “I hear that you have emotion around the complexity of our offering.” By acknowledging the emotion, you can more easily move beyond it to address the issue at hand. Please note that you should avoid labeling the emotion, even if the asker does. If someone seems angry, it is better to use terms such as “strong emotion,” “clear concern,” and “passion.” I have seen a number of speakers get into a labeling battle with an audience member when the speaker names a specific emotion that the asker took offense to (e.g., saying an audience member seems frustrated when he is actually angry).

Reframe the question to focus on something you feel more comfortable addressing. I am not recommending pulling a politician’s trick and pivoting to answer the question you wanted rather than the one you got. Instead, by paraphrasing, you can make the question more comfortable for you to answer. The most striking example I have come across was in a sales situation where a prospect asked the presenter: “How come your prices are ridiculously expensive?” Clearly, the paraphrase “So you’re asking about our ridiculous pricing” is not the way to go. Rather, you can reframe the issue in your paraphrase to be about a topic you are better prepared to address. For example, “So you’d like to know about our product’s value.” Price is clearly part of value, but you start by describing the value and return on investment, which will likely soften the blow of the price.

Using paraphrases can also help you in facilitation situations, such as a meeting. In meetings, paraphrasing allows you to:

Acknowledge the participant’s effort. For many people, contributing in meetings can be daunting. There are real consequences for misspeaking or sounding unprepared. By paraphrasing the contributions you get from others, you validate the person’s effort by signaling that you really listened and valued their input.

Link various questions/ideas. You can pull together disparate contributions and questions and engage different participants by relating a current statement to previous ones. For example, you might say: “Your comment about our profitability links to the question a few minutes ago about our financial outlook.”

Manage over-contributors. Someone who over-shares or dominates a meeting with his or her opinions can be very disruptive and disrespectful. If it is your meeting, then the other participants will expect you to manage the situation. If you don’t, you will lose control and potentially credibility. Paraphrasing can help you move beyond the over-contributor while looking tactful. Fortunately, even the most loquacious person needs to inhale once in a while. During a pause, simply paraphrase a meaningful portion of the person’s diatribe and place focus elsewhere — to another person or topic. For example, you might say, “Forrest’s point about manufacturing delays is a good one. Laurie, what do you think?” Or, “Forrest’s point about manufacturing delays is a good one. What other issues are affecting our release schedule?” In both cases, you have politely informed Forrest that he is done, and you’ve turned the focus away from him and back to your agenda.

Beginning a paraphrase can sometimes be tricky, and people often ask me for suggestions for ways to initiate their paraphrases. Try one of the following lines to help you start your paraphrase:

• “So what you are saying/asking is … ”
• “What is important to you is … ”
• “You’d like to know more about … ”
• “The central idea of your question/comment is … ”

Paraphrasing has the power to help you connect with your audience, manage emotions, and steer the conversation. And once you begin to use the technique, you will realize it has the power to help you not only in presentations and meetings, but in virtually any interpersonal conversation.

For media inquiries, visit the Newsroom .

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March 13, 2014 Matt Abrahams: How to Make Unforgettable Presentations A Stanford lecturer and expert on public speaking explains how to ensure your audience remembers what they hear and see.

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Techniques for effective paraphrasing

On this page, techniques for paraphrasing, getting started, effective paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing is an important skill for academic writing, and yet it is very often misunderstood. Commonly, paraphrasing is expressed as “restating someone else’s ideas in your own words.” While this is technically accurate, it can lead students to believe that paraphrasing is simply about finding synonyms to replace the words in the original author’s text. Paraphrasing is most effective and useful when you think about it as a way to explain someone else’s ideas in relation to, or in the context of, your own argument.  

When writers are new to paraphrasing, they might think it’s acceptable to simply substitute certain words with synonyms. Here is an example, taken from the writing handbook They Say/I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein :

“Whenever you enter into a conversation with others in your writing, then, it is extremely important that you go back to what those others have said, that you study it very closely, and that you not confuse it with something you already believe” (2014, p. 33).

If a writer was told to “put this sentence into her own words,” and simply tried to find synonyms, they might end up with something like this:

Anytime someone dialogues with different authors, it is crucial that they return to what those different authors have said, that they scrutinize it, and that they avoid mistaking it for what they previously accepted (Graff & Birkenstein, 2014, p. 33).

You will notice that this example uses very few of the same words as the original quotation (i.e., it has been put into the author’s “own words”). However, it might be difficult for the reader to understand.

More seriously, this paraphrase could be considered plagiarism or patch-writing —even though the source is cited! Why?

Substituting synonyms for some of the author’s original words does not explain the source, highlight its importance, or show the reader how the source helps convey the paper’s argument. To do these things, an acceptable paraphrase must also change the structure of the author’s expression.

Here is an example of an effective paraphrase of the quotation above:

Graff and Birkenstein (2014) argue throughout their book They Say/I Say that writing is a conversation. When engaging in this conversation, they caution that writers must read carefully in order to ensure that they both understand, and provide fair consideration to, the ideas of others.

Notice three crucial things about this paraphrase:

• The author has signalled that the idea comes from the source They Say/I Say (this signalling can be done within the sentence, as it is above, or it can be done through an in-text citation).
• The author has “zoomed out” from the original quotation in order to explain the big idea being presented in the source text.
• The author has changed the original structure by making two sentences from one. This step helps to accomplish both #1 and #2, above.

Rather than being about words , paraphrasing is about ideas . Instead of focusing on replacing specific words in a quotation, it is more helpful when paraphrasing to think deeply about the ideas that the original author is explaining. Once you understand those ideas, you can “zoom out” and explain the most important idea (or ideas) in your own way.

Try these steps to write an effective paraphrase

Step 1: Read a paragraph from an article that you find interesting or that you are using to write a paper.

Step 2: Make notes to yourself about the most important idea or ideas presented in the paragraph (make these notes in point form, rather than in sentences)

Step 3: Put the article away and, using only your point-form notes, explain the most important idea(s) to someone else.

A Research-Based Guide to Becoming a Great Listener

Paraphrasing, clarifying, and conversational uptake..

Posted January 25, 2023 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

• Understanding Attention
• Take our ADHD Test
• Find a therapist to help with ADHD
• High-quality listening is associated with positive outcomes like greater intimacy, interpersonal chemistry, and relationship satisfaction.
• Listening can be expressed through behaviors that are verbal (paraphrasing), non-verbal (nodding), and paralinguistic (voice pitch).
• The most effective way of making someone feel heard is through the use of verbal signals—acknowledging, paraphrasing, and asking questions.

Published in Current Opinion in Psychology , a recent paper by H. K. Collins of Harvard University reviews the latest research on high-quality listening.

This post is a selective summary of the article.

The Benefits of Listening

High-quality listening is associated with many positive outcomes for both the speaker and the listener. For instance, listening responsively, in a way that creates a sense of safety and intimacy , promotes interpersonal chemistry .

At work , high-quality listening reduces burnout and increases well-being, trust, commitment, job knowledge, work performance, job satisfaction, and leadership . And according to a recent study , it even reduces loneliness (after disclosure of rejection experiences).

Listening is beneficial in many domains. For example, patients who feel listened to are more likely to adhere to their prescribed treatment, just as romantic partners who feel heard usually cope better and are more satisfied with their relationship.

Feeling listened to i s also a pleasurable experience, though it is not directly related to being heard. In other words, people may feel heard when they are not really listened to, just as one may be listened to attentively but not feel heard.

Showing That One Has Been Listening

What is listening? It differs significantly from hearing . Listening is less automatic and more active, intentional, and effortful. It involves three stages:

• Paying attention to the relevant aspects of the conversation.
• Interpreting and evaluating the content of the conversation.
• Showing that you have been listening. This third stage is necessary to mak e the speaker feel heard.

This last stage is also the only time when deception is possible. After all, the speaker can only guess, based on expressions of listening, whether his/her conversation partner has been truly listening. These listening expressions include signals categorized as nonverbal , paralinguistic , and verbal , as described below.

3 Expressions of Active Listening

Nonverbal cues of good listening consi st of body language signals such as leaning forward, nodding, maintaining eye contact, and appropriate facial expressions (e.g., smiling, furrowing of the brows).

Paralinguistic signs of good listening refer to vocal effects that are not verbal. These include matching the speaker’s style of speaking or tone of voice and making appropriate utterances—sighing, groaning, saying “hmm” or “uh-huh,” etc. These cues are important for communicating attention, interest, and understanding, and for establishing rapport.

Finally, verbal behaviors that indicate active listening include:

• Paraphrasing , which means restating what someone has said in order to communicate your attention and understandin g of it. (“It sounds to me that you have been reluctant to share these concerns with your mother. Is that right?”)
• Requests for clarification . (“What do you mean your brother is ‘out of it’ these days?”)
• Conversational uptake , which refers to b uilding on the contribution of the speaker by acknowledging, repeating, or elaborating. (“ Talking to your dad was a good first step.”)
• Asking questions and follow-ups. (“What happened after you spoke to your dad?”)

The Importance of Verbal Cues of Attentive Listening

Note, most nonverbal and paralinguistic behaviors (e.g., nodding, saying “uh-huh,” eye contact) commonly associated with attentive listening are not directly related to the verbal content of what is being said. Therefore, they can be performed by both attentive listeners and pretenders.

In short, nonverbal and paralinguistic signs of good listening can be faked . These dishonest expressions of listening may help the listener achieve short-term goals , but they prevent the pursuit of long-term goals like mutual understanding.

Hence, to achieve long-term informational and relational goals, it is necessary to use reliable list ening cues—listening behaviors that are not easy to fake. This means relying on verbal rather than paralinguistic or nonverbal cues.

A good example of such dependable cues is paraphrasing . Why? Because restating what has been said in one’s own words requires attention, cognitive processing of information, selecting the most important content, and communicating one’s understanding to the speaker.

So, paraphrasing is effortful and cognitively taxing. The same is true of good follow-up questions. A poor follow-up question would immediately reveal a failure to listen or remember key information.

In summary, verbal expressions are direct, useful, and reliable ways of showing that one has been listening. Indeed, listening with the intention of using verbal cues later helps you listen better, pay closer attention, and process the information more deeply.

Paralinguistic or nonverbal cues (e.g., nodding, saying “hmmm”) are useful only for immediate expressions of listening. Verbal signs of listening, by contrast, are more important either...:

• Later in the conversation , to ca ll the speaker’s attention to a matter mentioned earlier in the conversation.
• In future conversations : To reference a discussion that took place hours, days, or weeks earlier.

Listening involves attention, processing of spoken information, and expressions of listening. Only the last stage makes a speaker feel heard.

So, how to make someone feel heard—be they a coworker, friend, romantic partner, parent, or child?

Here are some suggestions:

• To express listening when your conversational partner is speaking, use appropriate non-verbal and paralinguistic cues. Some examples are sa ying “hmm” or “uh-huh,” nodding, and leaning in.
• To express listening when it is your turn to speak, use verbal cues, such as paraphrasing or asking thoughtful follow-up questions.

Use verbal cues as much as possible because they are difficult to fake when compared to other cues (e.g., nodding, saying “mhmm”).

Verbal signs are honest expressions of listening and, as such, can promote relationship satisfaction, reciprocal honesty, and a greater willingness to disclose personal information.

Indeed, being heard is associated with enhanced well-being and relational benefits like increased trust, and as a result, greater intimacy and relationship satisfaction. As Collins notes, the best listening is, counterintuitively, “spoken.”

LinkedIn image: Asia Images Group/Shutterstock. Facebook image: Bricolage/Shutterstock

Arash Emamzadeh attended the University of British Columbia in Canada, where he studied genetics and psychology. He has also done graduate work in clinical psychology and neuropsychology in U.S.

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Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

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This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

• Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
• Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
• Give examples of several points of view on a subject
• Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
• Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
• Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own
• Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his famous and influential work The Interpretation of Dreams , Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the essay found here , using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

• Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
• Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
• Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
• Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages.

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To help the flow of your writing, it is beneficial to not always quote but instead put the information in your own words. You can paraphrase or summarize the author’s words to better match your tone and desired length. Even if you write the ideas in your own words, it is important to cite them with in-text citations or footnotes (depending on your discipline’s citation style ). 

Definitions

• Paraphrasing allows you to use your own words to restate an author's ideas.
• Summarizing allows you to create a succinct, concise statement of an author’s main points without copying and pasting a lot of text from the original source.

What’s the difference: Paraphrasing v. Summarizing

Explore the rest of the page to see how the same material could be quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. Depending on the length, tone, and argument of your work, you might choose one over the other. 

• Bad Paraphrase
• Good Paraphrase
• Reread: Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
• Write on your own: Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
• Connect: Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material.
• Check: Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
• Quote: Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
• Cite: Record the source (including the page) on your note card or notes document so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Explore the tabs to see the difference between an acceptable and unacceptable paraphrase based on the original text in each example.

Original Text

“Business communication is increasingly taking place internationally – in all countries, among all peoples, and across all cultures. An awareness of other cultures – of their languages, customs, experiences and perceptions – as well as an awareness of the way in which other people conduct their business, are now essential ingredients of business communication” (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p.59). 

More and more business communication is taking place internationally—across all countries, peoples, and cultures.  Awareness of other cultures and the way in which people do business are essential parts of business communication (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p.59)

Compare the Original and Paraphrase

Too much of the original is quoted directly, with only a few words changed or omitted. The highlighted words are too similar to the original quote: 

More and more business communication is taking place internationally —across all countries, peoples, and cultures .  Awareness of other cultures and the way in which people do business are essential parts of business communication (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p.59)

Original Text 

“Business communication is increasingly taking place internationally – in all countries, among all peoples, and across all cultures. An awareness of other cultures – of their languages, customs, experiences and perceptions – as well as an awareness of the way in which other people conduct their business, are now essential ingredients of business communication” (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p.59).

The importance of understanding the traditions, language, perceptions, and the manner in which people of other cultures conduct their business should not be underestimated, and it is a crucial component of business communication (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p. 59).

The original’s ideas are summarized and expressed in the writer’s own words with minimal overlap with the original text's language:

The importance of understanding the traditions, language, perceptions, and the manner in which people of other cultures conduct their business should not be underestimated, and it is a crucial component of business communication (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p. 59).

• Bad Summary
• Good Summary
• Find the main idea: Ask yourself, “What is the main idea that the author is communicating?”
• Avoid copying: Set the original aside, and write one or two sentences with the main point of the original on a note card or in a notes document.
• Connect: Jot down a few words below your summary to remind you later how you envision using this material.

Business communication is worldwide, and it is essential to build awareness of other cultures and the way in which other people conduct their business. (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p.59). 

Compare the Original and Summary

Too much of the original is quoted directly, with only a few words changed or omitted. The highlighted words are too similar to the original text:

Business communication is worldwide, and it is essential to build awareness of other cultures and the way in which other people conduct their business . (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p.59). 

In a world that is increasingly connected, effective business communication requires us to learn about other cultures, languages, and business norms (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p.59). 

The original’s ideas are summarized and expressed in the writer’s own words with minimal overlap:

In a world that is increasingly connected, effective business communication requires us to learn about other cultures , languages , and business norms (Chase, O’Rourke & Wallace, 2003, p.59). 

No matter what the source or style, you need to cite it both in-text and at the end of the paper with a full citation! Write down or record all the needed pieces of information when researching to ensure you avoid plagiarism. 

Cheat Sheet

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Overview of Quoting, Paraphrasing & Summarizing

Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing are all common techniques used in academic writing. This section will discuss each of these techniques and how to incorporate them effectively into your writing to help avoid academic misconduct, such as plagiarism. 

What are the differences between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing and when should you use each technique in your writing?

• Accessible version of overview of quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing table.

When to Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize

Deciding when to quote, paraphrase, or summarize is ultimately up to you as a writer. However, good academic writing generally uses a combination of the three. Review the following examples to see which situations might be best for each writing technique. 

Paraphrasing Tutorial

Paraphrasing is when you use your own words to describe the words and ideas of others. Learning to paraphrase successfully is an important component in academic writing. This paraphrasing tutorial will take you through scenarios that will demonstrate good paraphrasing techniques. 

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