When Talking

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I don't know if you do this but sometimes when I'm talking to someone in a middle of a sentence I pause and don't know what to say when I do it I start waving it can be embarrassing at times

I don't ever start waving, but I often pause in mid sentance because I don't know what to say or I get confused etc.

Well, then I asK: what was I talking about? and after a world I catch it again, no problem.

I often forget what I'm saying when I'm talking, and I do this thing with my finger-like stirring the air when it happens. When I am in an arguement I will wave my arm at times as if I'm wiping out whatever was said past what I got confused about. I bounce a lot when I forget what I'm saying also...

I admit pausing in mid sentence I'd rather know what I'm saying

I say uhhhh...... a lot when that happens to indicate that I am thinking and haven't just shut down. Here is a condensed version of my procedure for a standard conversation.

Step 1:
Avoid conversations (if not possible or desired continue to step 2)

Step 2:
Determine if a greeting is necessary. A greeting is generally required except if a greeting was exchanged at that location earlier the same day. The exception to the same day rule is if you were with the person and they were not sleeping when midnight came around in that case it would not be necessary however if they did fall asleep after 5pm for at least 3 hours and woke up then a morning greeting is recommended but if nautical twilight has not yet begun it is not required. If you change locations and the other person did not come with you then a standard greeting is required again if you happen to meet them at the new location unless you had prior arrangement to meet them at the new location and arrived within 10 minutes of eachother. My standard greetings include: hello, hey, hi, howdy, 'sup. Morning greetings include: Good morning or 'morning. To simplify this procedure I recommend waiting for the other person to initiate the greeting if possible. Once greetings have been exchanged move begin step 3.

Step 3:
The conversation at this point could take many directions and this is where the rules get a little murky. If you initiated the greeting you will be expected to start step 3 first although the other person may take the initiative here. The nature of the conversation is key. If this is a business conversation just the facts will do fine. Answer any questions you can and ask question you have if you cannot find the information another way there are no guidelines for this since the nature of the business can vary widely. If this is a conversation outside of business a follow up greeting can be used such as "how are you doing" or if this conversation is within a 100 meter radius of the location where the person slept and is the first greeting since nautical twilight and it has been less then 1 hour since they awoke and they slept for at least 4 hours then you may ask "how did you sleep". Follow up greetings can vary widely but generally fine, good or ok is an acceptable response. A positive response is recommended in any case since a negative response may prompt question about the reason for the negative response and result in a longer then necessary and generally more difficult conversation. If you are to receive a negative response then you are expected to express concern with a phrase such as "are you ok" or "is something wrong". At this point sometimes it's possible to skip onto step 4 however questions of a non essential nature are common in non business interactions and there is little that can be done to anticipate these questions unlike the business interaction where the topic is known in advance. Clearly more research is necessary into step 3 and this is most unfortunate since it normally makes up 95% of the conversation.

Step 4:
The conclusion to a conversation is useful in determining how the conversations went. Determining when to use a conclusion word or phrase can be tricky and is largely intuitive look for long unexplained pauses. Generally words such as bye, goodbye or later will work fine or more advanced phrases such as "I'll see you later" or "I'll talk to you later" can be used if you are careful not to imply something inadvertently such as a desire to communicate again at a later date. If for no apparent reason the other person uses no conclusion or an abrupt conclusion this can be interpreted as a negative reaction to something said in step 2 or 3. There are exceptions and it is not recommended to use that as the sole indicator of how successful the communication event was. If this is the last conversation you anticipate having with the person and the sun has begun to set then an evening conclusion is recommended such as "good night" or simply 'night.

This guideline is somewhat approximate of the standard NT conversation procedure. individual variations can be huge and certain situations may result in radical departures from this format.

I sometimes forget certain words and I have to ask people, "How do you say...?" English is my first language, but sometimes I sound like I only just learned to speak it.

Yes, I often "lose track" of conversing &/or do not care (no, I profoundly do not care). But, Sopho: love you new avatar. Nobodyzdream: I adore your avatar!! ! I am/was having breakfast whilst reading this post (corn chex w/ milk) and I joked because I was laughing so hard......oh wow - hysterical! Anyway, what were we talking about?

lol, thanks

i tend to blank out mid sentence
then i make a reeling motion sorta like turning the crank of an old time move projector
or like i am trying to restart my train of thought.

I sometimes lose my train of thought in mid sentence. I tend to avoid certain
topics because of complexity or emotional content, or social context may be
confusing. Having a poor short term memory doesn't help matters either.

My short term memory blows..I am constantly having to work at it...

My brother repeats the end of a word sometimes when he's talking. Like he'll say "I went to the park...ark..and.." I think that's what he does when he's figuring out what to say next.

One embarrassing moment I was talking in front of a large group of people about 400 one New Years Eve and in the middle I lost it and forgot what I was talking about anyway everything I said was Ab-Lib