Karolina Smeds
Principal Scientist, Sweden
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The challenge
Understanding the complexity of conversation success
Successful conversation goes beyond accurate speech recognition and information exchange. It encompasses alignment between speakers, managing misunderstandings, and ensuring engagement.
Traditional measures of success focus on transactional communication, but conversation also serves social functions, such as building relationships and fostering inclusion.
Hearing difficulties further complicate conversation success, making it essential to assess both subjective and objective factors that contribute to effective communication.
Our approach
Identifying key factors of conversation success
In close collaboration with the University of Nottingham, Hearing Sciences – Scottish Section, a group concept mapping study was conducted by a PhD student, Raluca Nicoras. People with normal hearing and people with hearing impairment participated.
Participants generated statements about successful conversations, sorted them into categories, and rated their importance in different conversational settings.
The data were analyzed to identify common themes and prioritize key factors. Participants responded to two prompts:
- “What does a successful conversation look like?”
- “Think about a successful conversation you have taken part in.
- “What aspects of that conversation contributed to its success?”
The group’s responses were categorized into seven key clusters and rated in terms of importance for one-to-one and group conversations.
These clusters provide a structured understanding of the factors that drive successful communication and how their relevance varies across different conversational contexts.
The factor map you see depicts seven clusters of conversation success. The number of layers represents the rating of overall importance given to each cluster.
Our key insights
The factors that drive successful communication
Our findings emphasize that conversation success is a multifaceted concept that can be evaluated in different ways. Seven core factors were identified:
- Being able to listen easily: Low listening effort, minimal background noise, and effective hearing aid use are important for conversation success.
- Being spoken to in a helpful way: A clear, well-structured, and fluently delivered message enhances understanding.
- Being engaged and accepted: Feeling valued, receiving positive nonverbal cues (e.g., nodding, smiling), and mutual interest contribute to engagement.
- Sharing information as desired: Effective communication ensures clear information exchange and desired conversational outcomes.
- Perceiving flowing and balanced interaction: Smooth turn-taking and equal participation prevent interruptions and promote conversational success.
- Feeling positive emotions: Enjoyment and a sense of connection enhance conversational satisfaction.
- Not having to engage coping mechanisms: Conversations should be effortless, without requiring compensatory strategies like lip-reading or excessive concentration.
In group conversations, listening ease, helpful speech, and information sharing were rated as more critical than in one-to-one conversations.
This suggests that the challenges of multi-speaker environments place greater demands on these aspects.
Experiencing the joy of connecting with another person, where conversation flows effortlessly and a genuine bond is formed.
Future directions
Expanding the study of conversation success
Future research could focus on identifying specific behaviors that contribute to successful conversations and developing reliable methods for measuring success across different contexts, such as social and transactional interactions.
Additionally, further investigation is needed to understand how conversation success unfolds in group settings and how individuals adapt to their surroundings to maintain effective communication.
Real-world impact
Enhancing communication for all
- Understanding and measuring conversation success has direct implications for hearing-aid development and audiological care.
- Understanding conversational behavior supports the development of hearing-aid features that adapt dynamically to different conversational settings.
- Findings emphasize the need to integrate real-world conversations into hearing-aid evaluations for more effective audiological counseling and device optimization.
- Supporting smoother communication and social participation enables individuals with hearing impairments to engage more confidently in everyday conversations.
By deepening our understanding of what makes conversations successful, we can develop better strategies and technologies to foster more inclusive and effective communication for all.
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Researchers involved
Research area Foster social interaction
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