Help: Conversation Tips

Tapped In is an online meeting place and conference facility set up to enable you to use general "rules of conversation" that you would use in real-world meetings. However, the constraints of text-based communication make it necessary to introduce a few additional hints on how to express yourself in both synchronous (chat) and asynchronous (discussion board) conversations. Below we provide some tips that we have found helpful.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings

When you log in, click on the Online tab in your Chat window to see who else is logged, where they are, and whether they are active or idle. When you enter a room, take a few moments to look around, read the room's description, and check who and what resources are in the room with you. Each room has a discussion board where people may leave messages as well as a chat window.

The Chat interface in the lower half of your screen will automatically tell you when someone enters or leaves the room (or is accidentally disconnected).

Use a Conversational Speaking Style

Spoken conversation is fraught with mistakes, shortcuts, and ungrammatical utterances; text-based conversation need be no different. Don't feel compelled to spell every word correctly; use common abbreviations if you like.

Regulate the Pace of the Conversation

Conversation often involves relatively short statements and tightly-coupled turn-taking among the participants. If the chat conversation is going too fast for you to follow, indicate that to the others using the Emote command, e.g.,

:needs a minute to catch up

Once you press enter, in the Chat window this Emote will appear as [your username] needs a minute to catch up

Try to type shorter, conversational statements instead of long paragraphs, since the long pauses while you type can be confusing to others, or the conversation may have moved on before you hit the enter key. If you do want to make a longer statement, use the Emote command or ellipses, e.g.,

:has two things to say "We can sum this up as...

The dot-dot-dot indicates you want to say more so that people should wait for you to finish your full statement. Show patience for such signs in others' communication.

You can also use the "Detach" command listed under the Actions bar. By "detaching" your chat area, you will be able to view a much larger window for dialogue. This can make it easier for individuals to follow along with the pace of the conversation. You can always "reattach" your chat area by clicking on the "Attach" button.

Give Nonverbal Feedback

In face-to-face communication, feedback is often given with nonverbal actions, like nodding. Text-based communication lacks the visual and auditory cues that people commonly use to convey meaning to others, but you can generate them using the Emote command. You don't need to translate every "body language" action from the real world into Tapped In, but it is often useful to give the other participants in the conversation feedback that you are attending. Watch out for ambiguous situations and unpleasant silence, and disclose your facial expressions and gestures, e.g.,

:listens
:shrugs
:grins
:nods
:raises his hand

Of course, you can also use verbal comments, such as "I agree" or "I have a question about that" to let others know you are engaged in the conversation.

Avoid Overlapping Conversations in Meetings

Overlapping topics or overlapping conversations between different people in the same meeting are hard to follow. When in a meeting, if you want to introduce a new topic, indicate that first to make sure that you don't create overlapping conversations. Wait until you have the attention of others who are still talking about the old topic. If you want to have a side conversation, use the Private Message feature or go to another room.