Dialogue

Conversational narcissism
Anita L. Vangelisti , Mark L. Knapp & John A. Daly
Pages 251-274 | Published online: 02 Jun 2009

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03637759009376202?journalCode=rcmm20

Conversational narcissism is typified by an extreme self‐focusing in a conversation, to the exclusion of appropriate concerns for the other. Whether conceptualized as a conversational style, possessed to varying degrees by various individuals, or as a conversational feature associated with various situational demands, conversational narcissism has important implications for the structure, goals, and outcomes of conversation. Results of six studies reported here revealed that people had behavioral referents for the term “conversational narcissism” such as boasting, refocusing the topic of the conversation on the self, exaggerating hand and body movements, using a loud tone of voice, and “glazing over” when others speak. The behavior of individuals role‐playing narcissistic conversational behavior was consistent with the recalled referents. Further, people enacting narcissistic conversational behaviors were rated significantly lower on social attraction than people not acting narcissistic. While conversational narcissism is generally perceived as a negative social strategy, respondents reported a number of contexts in which focusing attention on the self (to the exclusion of the other) is an appropriate move. Taken together, the data suggest that conversational narcissism is determined interactively, by the needs and conversational goals of both participants.

I went to an artist development session run by Anna Turzynski at Compass Live Art in Leeds about Audience Care. Some key points to consider that I took away include:

• How we communicate with a rapidly changing audience with new generations.
• How to mitigate triggering audiences
• Dialogue can mitigate isolation of negative experience (specifically talking to venue staff and bringing them up to speed with the work to perform a support act).
• Audience and Artist Care Worksheets for every work with the following things to consider:

1. Before the performance, what info does the audience need to arrive prepared?
2. During the performance who/what looks after me?
3. During the performance who/what looks after the audience?
4. What do I do if I feel uncomfortable during the performance and want to stop?
5. What does the audience do if they feel uncomfortable during the performance and want to stop?
6. After the performance, what do I need to feel safe and happy?
7. After the performance what do the audience need to feel safe and happy?
8. How do I know if this will work?

I gave my Rubbish talk at Impressions Gallery Bradford in the gallery space where Mandy Barker’s show is on. The talk and ensuing dialogue was recorded and will be available on the website! The Rubbish Conversations after the slide presentation were the highlights for me and I think the audience too. It started as a fairly standard Q&A about some of the things I’d discussed but turned into a more general Rubbish Conversation from bins and recycling to capitalism and throwaway culture.

The feedback gathered by the team at Impressions was very positive:

“Very friendly and relaxing atmosphere. Waste art is something I know little about so the talk was really interesting.”

“Very much liked the presentation and post-talk discussion!”

And of the people who filled in questionnaires, everyone rated the event as Very Good (which is the top category)

Thanks so much to Angela and the team at Impressions for having me!

I prepared for my Rubbish talk at Impressions Gallery Bradford and revisited my previous works Talking Rubbish / Rubbish Conversations.

I compiled a 30 slide presentation I could talk through but I didn’t prepare a script. My presentation covered some recent residencies and the Museum of Contemporary Rubbish and went through my Masters by Research work looking at the different synonymous categories of rubbish. I made a printout of some artworks I had featured in my MRes newspaper and started and ended with this slide as a point of discussion:

A non sequitur (English: /ˌnɒnˈsɛkwɪtər/; Classical Latin: [noːn ˈsɛkᶣɪtʊr] “it does not follow”) is a conversational literary device, often used for comedic purposes. It is something said that, because of its apparent lack of meaning relative to what preceded it, seems absurd to the point of being humorous or confusing.

This use of the term is distinct from the non sequitur in logic, where it is a fallacy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_sequitur_(literary_device)