“The first component of non-violent communication entails the separation of observation from evaluation.  We need to clearly observe what we are seeing, hearing, or touching that is effecting our sense of well-being, without mixing in any evaluation.

Observations are an important element in NVC, where we wish to clearly and honestly express how we are to another person.  When we combine observation with evaluation, we decrease the likelihood that others will hear our intended message.  Instead they are apt to hear criticism and thus resist whatever we are saying.

NVC does not mandate that we remain completely objective and refrain from evaluating.  It only requires that we maintain a separation from our observations and our evaluations. NVC is a process language that discourages static generalizations;  instead evaluations are to be based on observations SPECIFIC TO TIME AND CONTEXT…………….we create many problems for ourselves when we using static language to express or capture a reality which is ever changing.” (Non-Violent Communication, by Marshall Rosenberg, p.26.)