How the ‘useless& #39; words of & #39;small talk& #39; saves lives.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="☎️" title="Telefon" aria-label="Emoji: Telefon"> In a 999 domestic violence call, the caller gets help without making a request https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="☎️" title="Telefon" aria-label="Emoji: Telefon">

A short thread with @Richardson_Emm busting two #communication myths in one go.

1. Thread. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">

2. If a person threatening violence can hear you on the phone, using ‘small talk’ - in this case, saying "y& #39;all right" at precisely the place where it would routinely appear in an ordinary conversation - will help you sound like you’re having an ordinary conversation.

3. The caller uses her tacit knowledge that saying "y& #39;all right" (or similar, like “how are you”) at this point in a call is routine and ordinary, helping the conversation sound routine and ordinary.

4. Asking & #39;closed& #39; yes/no questions allows the call-taker to elicit relevant information from the caller, who - for overhearing third parties - could be talking to anybody.

5. The *systematic organization* of social interaction - what people typically say and when - enables the caller to sound like she is talking to someone other than the police (to whoever is overhearing her conversation) and the call-taker to support that to happen.

6. "How are yous" and "y& #39;all rights" and the specific slot they typically occupy (or are omitted from, or are dispensed with) in social interaction tells us a LOT about what kind of conversation this is going to be.

Every turn is data: https://twitter.com/LizStokoe/status/1365025146122215427">https://twitter.com/LizStokoe...

7. And the actual use of yes/no (& #39;closed& #39;) questions is more nuanced than binary assertions about & #39;open/closed& #39; questions. Social interaction shows us this every day. It also shows that we know this implicitly, even if we don& #39;t say it in comms training! https://twitter.com/LizStokoe/status/1374058067273388039">https://twitter.com/LizStokoe...

8. Here& #39;s a final example - a 911 call in which the dispatcher asks & #39;yes/no& #39; questions to enable the caller to get emergency help. The caller produces turns designed and precision-timed (including in overlap) to sound like ordering pizza.

9. Conversation analysis #EMCA shows us how crucial it is to analyse REAL talk, as it is used, to re-consider compelling but flawed assertions about how #communication works.

For more on 999 calls, watch this space for @Richardson_Emm& #39;s research @AIFL_Aston