Summary - This book examines what happens when two people talk. It looks at how the conversation engine works and its components. Based on extensive research and written in a beginner friendly context, I felt this book is a must read if you want to know what happens when we talk.

Why did I pick up this book?

I was interested in learning about conversational UX and I thought this might hold some ideas about it. I was completely wrong and it was a big pleasant surprise to know that my expectations were happily incorrect.

Did I like it?

Absolutely. It was written in an understandable manner and did not whack me on the head with complex scientific terms or research methodologies. All the cited research was laid out clearly and did not pose a challenge in the understanding of the subject.

Key Ideas 🚧

• The average time that people take to respond to a question is about the same time that it takes to blink the eye: 200 milliseconds.

• A “no” answer to a question will come slower than a “yes” answer, no matter which language is spoken.

• There is a standard one-second time window for responding in conversation: It helps us gauge whether a response is fast, on time, late, or unlikely to arrive at all.

• The conversation machine defines a one-second window within which responses should occur. Responses falling within different zones of this window carry different social meanings and signal different things about the speaker’s attitude and cognitive processing. For instance, delayed responses can be interpreted as hesitancy or disagreement, while quick responses often indicate agreement or a strong preference for a particular answer.

• “Huh” can be considered an universal word across languages. Languages from all over the world seem to have developed the same sound to indicate confusion and to initiate conversation repair.

• Every 84 seconds in conversation, someone will say “Huh?,” “Who?,” or something similar to check on what someone just said.

• There are traffic signals that convey the speaker’s state of mind, their understanding, and the progression of the conversation. For example, “um” or “uh” can signal that a speaker is still formulating their thought, while “mm-hmm” indicates active listening and understanding.

• One out of every 60 words we say is “um” or “uh.”

• 🚧 I’ll be updating other interesting ideas as I review my notes. 🚧