Elizabeth Stokoe Profile picture
Professor @LSE_PBS | Academic Director of Impact @LSEnews | Conversation Analyst #EMCA | HonFBPsS | @IndependentSage Behaviour Group | she/her | own views
Aug 20, 2023 8 tweets 4 min read
Does "please" make our talk polite?

Despite being "the magic word", @AndrewChalfoun @gio_rossi_5 @tanya_stivers show in their recent #EMCA conference paper that "please" appears in <10% of actual requests and does *other* things.

It's another #communication myth busted.

🧵 1/8 Abstract: "Any kid knows how to politely ask for something. That requests should properly be made with Please is drilled into the heads of children from a young age, and children as young as two can spontaneously add the "magic" word as an increment to requests that fail to receive a response. In English-speaking cultures, parents routinely encourage this behavior through explicit instruction. Yet, despite the received wisdom, we find that only a small minority of everyday requests are produced with Please—fewer than 10%. Since Please is far from ubiquitous, what contextual f... 2/8

It becomes very clear if/when you listen to and analyse recordings of actual "in the wild" social interaction (the data used in conversation analytic research) that people make their requests sound 'polite', 'pushy', 'tentative', etc., through a variety of words and phrases.
Jun 13, 2022 9 tweets 7 min read
Great to see “signage and ratings”, “awareness”, and “visible assurance” prominent in @RAEngNews @CIBSE recommendations to ensure that the public understands the importance of “good indoor air quality.”

Short 🧵 on exemplar #signage schemes and pilots.

1/8 Image highlighting recommen... As @CathNoakes writes, 'Scores on the Doors' is an example of such a scheme. 2/8

May 4, 2022 4 tweets 3 min read
I haven’t transcribed Johnson for a while (too😡) but for the records here are his responses to Susanna Reid's questions about #Elsie, which include placing a definitive-sounding "no" after Reid suggests "you can't say anything to help Elsie, can you."

Part 1: Opening question: Part 2, in which Johnson produces incomplete responses, cut off and abandoned sentences, rushed-through turns, deviations, and stated intentions - but does not provide examples of what Elsie "should cut back on".
Mar 3, 2022 9 tweets 5 min read
What can we learn from the #language of “living with covid”?

We wrote about the origins of “living with it”; how it became associated with Covid-19, and how – like other idiomatic phrases – it closes down discussion (“just live with it!”)

🧵 expands short piece in @bmj_latest Image 2. We searched on @LexisNexisUK for the first use, first use in association with Covid-19, and frequency of use, of twelve variations of ‘living with it’ and ‘learning to live with it’, up to the start of 2022.

It’s clear that ‘live/living’ outpaced ‘learn/learning’ versions. Image
Dec 21, 2021 12 tweets 9 min read
What evidence is there that “using these 8 common phrases” will “ruin your credibility”?

Answer: Not much.

Why do we create and perpetuate #communication myths? Communication is important, and we don't see enough of how it works “in the wild.”

🧵Thread 1/12 The thread is informed by research in conversation analysis #EMCA

There are other research methods for investigating communication, but not all look at actual humans producing, for instance, those “8 common phrases” in social interaction.

That’s what this thread will do. 2/12
Oct 8, 2021 15 tweets 8 min read
After last week's focus on the science of mechanical and natural #ventilation, today's @IndependentSage briefing focused on its translation into a non-technical #communication #messaging 'proof of concept' scheme.

Full report ➡️ bit.ly/3BrFD5j

1. Summary⬇️ 2. The proposed scheme brings together two familiar visual systems: i) the international energy labelling system and ii) icons.

It also builds on previous proposed schemes and the kinds of infographics we’ve seen over the last 18 months

e.g., bmj.com/content/370/bm…
Sep 9, 2021 8 tweets 3 min read
Here’s a little case study of the ripple effect of UK government mixed messaging - universities and face coverings.

1. “Face coverings are no longer advised for students, staff and visitors either in teaching rooms or in communal areas” (DfE, 17.8.21)

“no longer advised” 🤨 The ripple effect. Forance/Shutterstock. 2. Meanwhile, beyond campus, the government has

“removed the requirement to wear face coverings in law"

"but"

"expects and recommends that they are worn"

"in enclosed and crowded spaces where people may come into contact with people they don’t normally meet.”
Aug 20, 2021 17 tweets 8 min read
🚨 New from @IndependentSAGE

Our ‘Following the Science’ Timeline charts the main behavioural science recommendations from SAGE & Indie SAGE about the measures needed to minimize the spread of COVID-19 alongside what the Westminster Government implemented and when.

🧵+🔗⬇️ 2. The timeline covers four main areas: hand and respiratory hygiene, face coverings, physical distancing, and self-isolation...
Jul 21, 2021 10 tweets 5 min read
Regarding @IanCookson72's point below, #EMCA research shows us that whatever appears in the 'answer' slot in a conversation can be assessed (in the moment and post-hoc) for how it addresses the initiating 'question'. News interviews are full of examples.
2. There is a great deal of conversation analytic and other research on media / news / political interviews – too much for a thread – including on the thousands of Newsnight interviews.
May 26, 2021 15 tweets 8 min read
Stop. Building. Rapport.
 
'Build rapport' is at the heart of #communication skills training and #CX

It's obviously good to have good conversations, but what does ‘building rapport’ look like ‘in the wild’ – and does it 'work'?
 
1. Thread. 🧵 Getty Images 2. What actually counts as rapport building – in terms of words and phrases and 'tone of voice' – is "amorphous” and “nebulous”, says G.B. Rubin (2016) in her thesis on crisis #negotiation

'Active listening' and related concepts sound good but they're also imprecise.
May 17, 2021 15 tweets 8 min read
How we ask questions is important.

Some questions are *standardized* (e.g., surveys, scripts, instructions) and require reading out loud, word for word.

In business, research, law, medicine, etc., do people "just read them out"?

TL;DR: No. And there are consequences.

1. 🧵 question mark on typewriter 2. We might take it for granted that, when 'standardized', questions will be the same whether spoken or written. The examples in the thread will show they're not.

Without examining actual interaction, we won't know the clinical, diagnostic, legal, etc. consequences either way.
Apr 6, 2021 9 tweets 5 min read
How the ‘useless' words of 'small talk' saves lives.

☎️ In a 999 domestic violence call, the caller gets help without making a request ☎️

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

1. Thread. 🧵 2. If a person threatening violence can hear you on the phone, using ‘small talk’ - in this case, saying "y'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.
Mar 22, 2021 18 tweets 10 min read
“How do open-ended questions improve interpersonal communication?”

TL;DR: They do not.
 
Let’s explore a common #communication assumption about 'open' and 'closed' questions with some data to see what they look like, and what they do, in real interaction.
 
1. Thread. 🧵 2. Google "open and closed questions” and you’ll find loads of articles and (often written or hypothetical) examples about them - tweet 1 is just one of many.

As @d_galasinski pondered recently: “I wonder who is responsible for fetishising open questions.”
Feb 25, 2021 12 tweets 6 min read
"'How are you?' These are the three most useless words in the world of communication."

This compelling (but wrong/daft) assertion is the kind of thing people think they know about talk but don't.

It's one of many communication myths that we should bust.

1. Thread. 2. "How are you" is often deemed a 'pointless' or 'filler' question, to which the socially acceptable answer might be a lie ("fine, how are you?").

"How are you" should not be taken as an opportunity to "discuss the crushing reality of existence."

reaction.life/machells-guide…
Jan 10, 2021 17 tweets 8 min read
Regarding the UK gov's new Covid campaign (“Act like you've got the virus”), I was asked on @SkyNews yesterday if “there is a problem with compliance now in terms of people adhering ... is the message is clear enough?”

Preparing took me down messaging rabbit holes.

🧵 2. On Friday night, to prepare for the interview, I duly looked at @DHSCgovuk's campaign.

Prof Whitty speaks to camera: “We must all stay home. If it is essential to go out, remember wash your hands, cover your face indoors, and keep your distance from others.”
Nov 16, 2020 14 tweets 8 min read
🚨New #IndieSAGE paper🚨

1. From Stay Home to Stay Alert, UK government messaging has been much discussed during the #COVID19 pandemic. #IndieSAGE has analysed its effects (March-Oct 2020) and makes recommendations for a communication reset.

🔗bit.ly/3kBrpp6

🧵 Image 2. It is through language that #COVID19 laws, regulations, rules, and guidance are written - which must be understood, interpreted, and acted upon by people. Precise messaging is easier to understand and act upon.

For instance, what counts as 'mingling'?

(@AdamWagner1) Image
Sep 11, 2020 16 tweets 9 min read
🧵

1. Why does @IndependentSage recommend maximizing remote learning at #Universities from the START of term?

Does SAGE agree?

Does the UK Government #FollowTheScience? And will Universities?

🤔 2. #IndependentSAGE agrees with SAGE that, in Autumn in HE, “significant outbreaks are likely" that "could amplify local & national transmission"; that "this requires national oversight”, & that “asymptomatic transmission may make these harder to detect”.

Aug 27, 2020 13 tweets 6 min read
🧵 #COVID19 and the discourse of 'anxiety' 💬

1. People are ‘returning’ or ‘going back’ to work and good employers are putting safety measures in place.

In the mix, we're witnessing the division of people into categories: ‘comfortable’, '(ir)rational', 'reluctant', ‘anxious’. 2. Today sees an overt push/threat to stop #wft

#TomorrowsPapersToday @hendopolis
Aug 11, 2020 15 tweets 4 min read
A thread on the 'quality’ of F2F vs online interaction.

While ‘communication is key’, what we know about communication, inc. online, often rests on stereotypes or anecdata.

So when it comes to the ‘quality’ of online interaction, what is fact and what is communication myth? 1. The biggest assumption is that being ‘in person’ equates to better ‘quality’ (I’m mostly avoiding 'F2F' because we *are* F2F when video is enabled). But I’m putting a hypothesis out there:

(In)effective communicators are (in)effective communicators regardless of modality 😉