Approaching your communication with others as if you were talking to a stranger might actually improve better your communication. As according to Dr. Samantha Smithstein, suggests that the key to better communication is pretending your spouse is a stranger and this is well applicable to all sort of communications.
We have a tendency to let familiarity alter our communication because we have expectations of what the other person is going to say. Or sometimes, we may run out of topics/questions due to the familiarity. But, simple questions as, "How's your class today?", "How's your work today" and etc could make a difference to some people or it could be good startup for communication.
Once you start to feel you know a person, you feel you can often predict their behavior. However, as noted, humans are terrible at predicting the future. So it stands to reason that when you try to predict what someone is going to say you are, at the same time, limiting the possibilities/expectations.
People started feeling lazy to ask simple questions or talk (because we know too well the person) that often important in a daily communication. Looking at people you know as strangers—whether they're your spouse, a friend, a colleague, relative and so on isn't something you want to follow literally, but approaching communication with the people in your life without assumption could make for more interesting and fruitful conversations.
