How conversation works – and why people with hearing loss rely more on their powers of prediction

SHEFFIELD: (Mar 15) “Ultimately, the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or friendship, is conversation,” wrote Oscar Wilde.

We often think of conversation as effortless. But beneath its apparent ease lies an extraordinary feat of coordination – a finely tuned dance of listening and speaking.

Summoning a single word in your mind and then saying it takes at least 600 milliseconds. Yet the most common gap between one person finishing a speaking turn and the other beginning is around 200 milliseconds, regardless of the language they are speaking.