Five steps to effective paraphrasing 1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning. 2. Set the original aside, and paraphrase the passage on a note card. 3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrased passage to remind you later how you envision using this material by writing key words or phrases. 4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure your version accurately expresses the same essential information in a different form. 5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phrase you have borrowed exactly from the source.