Yep, conversation is a science. Who knew? There's actually mountains of research which analyses effective (and ineffective) conversation and provides great insight into what works (in a chat) and what doesn't. As somebody whose job is literally conversations, I was super interested in this... conversation (sorry) and it didn't disappoint. Professor Elizabeth Stokoe is a social psychologist who has spent over twenty years collecting and analysing real conversations across settings as varied as first dates, crisis negotiation, sales encounters and medical communication. Enjoy.