interlocutors
People in conversation
Interlocutors are the people involved in a conversation or dialogue.
The term appears in formal or academic contexts: diplomatic interlocutors, my interlocutor in the debate.
In the old minstrel show format, the interlocutor was the middle man who traded jokes with the end men—a usage now mainly historical.
Formal communication on subjects
- exchangeMutual giving and receiving
- discussionExchange of ideas
- speakersAudio output devices
- partnersJoint venture participants
conversationalists · participants · respondents · discussants · communicators · correspondents · counterparts · addressees
Those who arrange agreements
- envoysOfficial diplomatic representatives
- ambassadorsOfficial diplomatic representatives
- delegatesChosen representatives or assigns
- emissariesOfficial representatives sent abroad
mediators · representatives · liaisons · intermediaries · go-betweens · arbitrators · peacemakers · treaty
Reasoned case or dispute
- rebuttalFormal response disputing claims
- refutationDisproving a statement
- cross-examinationOpposing party questions witness
- oppositionActive resistance or dissent
dissent · confrontation · persuasion · rhetoric · disputation · contention · adversaries · opponents
Formal expert discussion meeting
- panelDistinct flat section
- roundtableLeaderless group discussion
- forumGathering place for discourse
- colloquiumAcademic discussion meeting
conference · seminar · summit · assembly · convocation · plenary · workshop · delegates
discourse
Formal communication on subjects
- exchangeMutual giving and receiving
- discussionExchange of ideas
- speakersAudio output devices
partners · conversationalists · participants · respondents · discussants · communicators · correspondents · counterparts · addressees · questioners
negotiators
Those who arrange agreements
- envoysOfficial diplomatic representatives
- ambassadorsOfficial diplomatic representatives
- delegatesChosen representatives or assigns
emissaries · mediators · representatives · liaisons · intermediaries · go-betweens · arbitrators · peacemakers · treaty · summit
argument
Reasoned case or dispute
- rebuttalFormal response disputing claims
- refutationDisproving a statement
- cross-examinationOpposing party questions witness
opposition · dissent · confrontation · persuasion · rhetoric · disputation · contention · adversaries · opponents · challengers
symposium
Formal expert discussion meeting
- panelDistinct flat section
- roundtableLeaderless group discussion
- forumGathering place for discourse
colloquium · conference · seminar · summit · assembly · convocation · plenary · workshop · delegates · moderators
- Scots Lawpursuer, defender, advocates, advocate, solicitors
- Scottish courtssheriff, circuit courts, district courts, criminal jurisdiction, civil procedure
- attendeesattendees, attendee, participant, participants, guests
interlocutorsbystanders
People present but uninvolved
observers · listeners · onlookers · audience · spectators
interlocutorsmonologists
Those who deliver speeches alone
lecturers · orators · broadcasters · speechmakers · preachers