Bill and Sue are the two most senior people on the design team at Acme Widgets. Things are changing fast in the widget world, and their team has been tasked with developing the most revolutionary widget yet. Bill thinks that they should develop a touch screen widget, while Sue thinks that voice activation is the way to go. They’ve been butting heads for days, and a decision needs to be made soon.

Sue used paraphrasing to help her understand Bill’s position.

• Bill: “We definitely need to improve the touch screen. That’s what everyone else is doing. We also need to make sure we have support for styluses.”
• Sue: “So if I understand you correctly, the touch screen is the most revolutionary. Is that right?
• Bill: “Yes, that’s what Smith Widgets and Jones Widgets just released.”
• Sue: “And our second priority should be including stylus support?”
• Bill: “Well, it should be incorporated with the touch support.”
• Sue: “OK, so stylus and touch support are both features that other companies have.”
• Bill: “That’s right.”