First dates, police interviews, doctor-patient communication and commercial sales – they are all driven by talk. And an understanding of how talk works is crucial for success.

This month, Elizabeth Stokoe explains how conversation analysis can produce a scientific understanding of talk. Rather than being messy and disorderly, talk is in fact organised systematically, and small changes in words or phrases can have a big impact on the outcome.

Elizabeth Stokoe is Professor of Social Interaction at Loughborough University, analysing the science of interaction in settings including police interrogations, sales calls, and initial inquiries to services including mediation and doctors’ surgeries. https://twitter.com/LizStokoe

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