Topic management
The strategies speakers use to introduce, maintain, develop, or change conversational topics. Topic management is a cooperative activity revealing speaker priorities and social dynamics.
Real World
In a 2023 Oprah Winfrey interview, Oprah consistently steered conversation back to personal emotion whenever the guest tried to discuss career facts, demonstrating how interviewers use topic management to control narrative.
Exam Focus
Identify who initiates and who accepts topic shifts — this reveals power dynamics and is a strong analytical point for higher marks.
How well did you know this?