The Psychologist presents… at Latitude Festival 2016

Following last year's successful appearance, we are delighted to be returning to Latitude Festival in July for another 'The Psychologist presents…' session, this time in the Wellcome Trust hub. 

At the event, which runs from Thursday 14 July to Sunday 17 July in Henham Park near Southwold, Professor Elizabeth Stokoe (Loughborough University) will be revealing 'How to talk so people listen' in a session chaired by our editor Dr Jon Sutton. 

Dr Sutton said: 'We love to reach out to new audiences, and last year's session with Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and the author Fiona Neill was extremely successful in that respect - there was a packed arena and lots of coverage in newspapers, radio and social media. Latitude is a wonderful festival and it's very rewarding to work with the curator Tania Harrison to be a part of it. One of the themes this year is "Love thy neighbour", and having analysed the talk involved in neighbour disputes I think Professor Stokoe is the perfect choice: she can also go much wider, to give us practical tips on how to talk so people listen!'

Professor Stokoe said: 'We live our lives by talking to others. We build, maintain and end our personal and professional relationships. We buy and sell. We get and give help. We are excited, irritated, embarrassed and consoled in response to things others say to us. Yet psychologists have often shied away from studying talk, preferring to ask people to report on their communicative lives in interviews or questionnaires, or to simulate them in laboratories. Many have argued that people’s talk is too idiosyncratic or too messy to capture and study systematically. But some psychologists have shown that talk is, in fact, highly organised – we often move along "conversational racetracks".

'I have collected tens to thousands of recordings of talk "in the wild" – from first dates to neighbour disputes. From this research, I have developed the "Conversation Analytic Role-play Method" of communication skills training. In conversation with Jon at Latitude, I will look under the bonnet at the engine that drives social life. Can we put the scientific evidence to use?'

Visit the festival website for tickets and line up.

Read about Professor Stokoe's recent keynote at the Society's Annual Conference, and more about her career in this interview from 2013.