The 5 types of conversation (and their characteristics)

A conversation seen as an exchange of ideas, opinions or dialogue about different topics is essential for communication between people, since relationships usually revolve around them interpersonal. In addition, a conversation can serve to avoid conflicts and/or resolve them, as well as allowing us to strengthen family ties, make friends, find a partner, work as a team, etc.

We can find several levels or types of conversation: conversation about things, about other people, about ideas, about feelings and, finally, the most intimate level that could be reached in a conversation and it would be the one in which one's own feelings are shared by expressing what is feel.

In this article we will explain in greater detail each of the types of conversation and what are its characteristics.

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What do we mean by a conversation?

What we commonly understand by having a conversation would be a talk or dialogue orally, through sign language or in writing in which two or even more people participate and intervene

, so that it helps them to express their ideas and/or feelings in a natural and improvised way, without the need for prior planning.

However, in a debate or in an interview that are not colloquial conversations such as those usually be carried out on a day-to-day basis, it is common for there to be a previous script in which the topics to be treat.

We could communicate through a conversion through verbal language and also through non-verbal language (p. g., through gestures). In addition, a conversation could take place on a wide variety of topics and it is quite common for the context to condition each conversation. For a conversation to be fluid and appropriate, the participants should respect the others turn to speak and listen carefully to what they say in order to be able to understand each other better.

Main characteristics of a conversation

In addition to having different types of conversation, we can find two large categories among the which conversations could be classified: formal conversations and formal conversations colloquial

A conversation is formal when it is governed by specific rules, being important in this sense to keep in mind in what context and situation it is going to be developed and for what purpose, as well as It is also important to know that a formal conversation is usually carried out in a more structured way than the conversation colloquial.

Secondly, a colloquial conversation would be one that occurs in the day to day of people, whether with family, friends, acquaintances that we meet on the street, with co-workers, with the workers of the shops where we go to buy, etc. In this type of conversation, an informal tone is usually used and it is usually built on the fly since it usually occurs in a natural context and there is no prior planning, so you also have greater freedom when expressing yourself and all participants in the conversation participate in a egalitarian.

It is worth mentioning that the normal thing is that any of the types of conversation, regardless of their type and whether they are formal or colloquial, have in common that They tend to have a very similar structure..

Any conversation usually has an “opening”, in which it is started in a way that show an intention to start a dialogue by calling on the person or group of them in order to speak; secondly, we can find the “body”, which is the center of every conversation and it is there where all the information that is intended is exchanged; Finally, we can find the "closing", through which the conversation would be concluded and in this a typical farewell formula of each country and/or culture is usually used.

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The main types of conversation

Now that we have briefly explained the main characteristics of a conversation, it is time to proceed to explain what the different types are.

1. conversation about things

The first of the types of conversation would be the one that usually takes place when talking about things. This might be the most superficial type of conversation of all since it is usually the most characteristic of those communicative acts that we usually have with people we do not know and with whom we are maintaining a dialogue because the situation requires it (p. g., in the elevator, in the waiting room of a doctor's office, etc.).

Although it is also a conversation that we could have with family and friends, since within this category we would include conversations about football (as long as it is not provide information about their own preferences regarding any type of sport), current news, about road traffic, about art, about music, etc. And it is that in these types of cases the most common thing is that they talk about the weather or about the pandemic in recent years, among other topics. Of course, to consider the conversations within this level, it would only have had to talk about this type of thing.

This would be, therefore, the most basic level of conversation, but it is no less important and necessary for that, since it can be important in a wide variety of situations.

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2. conversation about other people

The second type of conversation would be that dialogue in which two or more people talk about other people who are not present at the time, and can also be considered as a rather superficial conversation. In this type of case, it is quite common for the topics to be discussed to revolve around things that have happened to other people or about things they had said, so things are not being discussed personal.

Here we could also include current conversations about famous people, some writer, various gossip, comments that other people have said or even quotes from other people, as long as no type of self-assessment is mentioned, since in that case we would be talking about another type of conversation. Therefore, this second type of conversation can be quite scarce and superficial as to help build a lasting personal relationship with the other person.

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3. Conversation about our ideas

Another type of conversation would be the one that occurs in those cases or situations in which a dialogue about our ideas is established. Here we would begin to see deeper and even personal conversations, since in this type of case the participants in the dialogue already show more of themselves, instead of of talking only about unrelated topics in which no evaluation or reference was included staff.

When you have a conversation about ideas, you could be talking about a wide variety of topics such as politics, sports (as long as preferences and personal assessments such as when talking about our favorite team), about current society providing our assessment or about how we think they should be certain things.

In this case, only one of the people is explaining her ideas, while the other person has only limited himself to listening although without doing it at a deep level, doing the same thing backwards, so here it is would share two monologues, because each one has been fundamentally concerned with letting the other know what he thinks but without trying to listen to the others. the rest.

4. Conversation about our feelings

The next of the types of conversation would be one in which a conversation about feelings takes place; being a deeper way of dialogue than the previous ones, so it requires higher levels of intimacy than in the others that we have just commented on. In these kinds of conversations, the participants would already be talking about what is happening to them and about what they feel, and may even become vulnerable.

When we are having a conversation about feelings, through which we could be commenting on what worries us or what makes us feel good, we would be giving very personal and sensitive information to the other person, so it could be a starting point for building more stable relationships and durable. Although it is true that normally you do not start having conversations of this type until you have come to generate enough trust between two people, with which these conversations would come after.

This type of dialogue about our feelings would be what we commonly call as "let off steam" and, as we have sometimes been able to experience, they can be of great help to us in certain moments.

5. share feelings

Finally, among the different types of conversation possible, there is a mode that could be considered as is one step above the rest, being more constrictive, and here we would be sharing our feelings. In this case, we would be talking about the moment in which the most stable and lasting relationships are built.. And it is that not only is one person talking to another about what they feel, but they are also actively trying to listen to the other person in order to understand them.

This is where we would find a real meeting, in which both parties could feel comforted; especially when a conversation has been carried out to talk about their own problems and/or to try to find solutions that could solve them.

Although with our close people we could have a conversation at any of the levels, since we have been able to observe that with them we could be speaking even about time, for our relationship with them to be strong and lasting we should have been able to have conversations of any of the types that we have just seen, since there will be times when we need privacy and to be able to talk about our ideas, emotions or feelings and feel heard and supported by the person with whom we are talking and that would only be possible by reaching the deepest level of communication.