The Australian Dictionary of Invisible Culture for Teachers
when to change the topic of conversation
norm: when it is like this, it is good to do some things (see more)
When I am saying some things about something to some other people, after some time these people don’t want to think about this thing any more.
When it is like this, it is bad if I say anything more about these things at this time.
It is good if I say something like this “I want to say something about something else to you now.”
After this, I can say something about these other things.
Note
In these situations, it is often good if the 'I want to say something about something else to you now' is in the form of a question directed at the listeners."Felicia has been talking to Shannon about astronomy for a while. It is good if Felicia says something like 'But I could talk about astronomy all day. Tell me, how are your kids going?'"
"Ross has been talking to Meg and Josh about one thing for some time. It is good if Ross says something like 'Which reminds me, have you seen the new Marvel movie yet?'"
Back to Conversational Rules