The Elements of Meaningful Conversation: Fewer Mirror Questions, More Follow-Ups | Working Knowledge

The following is an excerpt from Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves, written by Alison Wood Brooks and published on Jan. 21, 2025.When my fellow researchers and I analyzed 15-minute get-to-know-you conversations among 398 strangers, we found that four dominant question types emerged: introductory, mirror, topic-switching, and follow-up. So how do we distinguish these question types? Introductory questions are what they sound like—“What’s your name?” “How are you?” or “What’s new?” They come near the beginning of our conversations and are the entry points to small talk. They help the speakers orient themselves to each other and the current moment. They’re at the base of the topic pyramid. These common, habitual questions can be useful, but the goal, as with small talk, is to move past them quickly. As I’m about to. Since they don’t necessarily reflect authentic curiosity and care, responders shouldn’t linger on their answers.Mirror questions reciprocate a q...