turn taking
Speaking in sequence
Turn taking is the back-and-forth exchange in conversation where speakers alternate rather than talk simultaneously.
One person speaks, then yields the floor to another.
The term appears in linguistics and child development: Babies learn turn taking before they learn words.
Good turn taking involves recognizing cues—pauses, falling intonation, completed thoughts—that signal when it's your turn to speak.
- conversationExchange of spoken ideas
- dialogueSpoken exchange between parties
- group discussionCollaborative conversation among several
- exchangeMutual giving and receiving
- back and forthRepeated alternating movement
speaker · listener · active listening · hold the floor · pause · awkward silence · interrupt · wait · cue · social cues · signal · floor · overlap · talk over · silence · response · timing · courtesy
- cooperation skillscompromise, negotiation, collaboration, teamwork, consensus
- social customshandshake, greeting, politeness, etiquette, formal address
- elementary schoolclassroom, student, first grade teacher, reading skills, teacher
- tabletop gamesboard games, board game, card games, card game, backgammon
- Charadesacting, miming, gestures, pantomime, guessing
- playgroupcircle time, free play, storytime, toys, sharing
turn takinginterrupting
Breaking in mid-speech
talking over · crosstalk · free-for-all · cutting in · butting in
turn takingmonologue
Uninterrupted solo address
filibustering · holding forth · soliloquy · one-sided conversation · lecturing
turn, taking, turns, turned, turning, turner, turnable, overturn, upturn