Those who participate in a conversation are interlocutors.
Each of the individuals who participate in a dialogue is called an interlocutor . Those who dialogue with each other, therefore, are interlocutors.
For example: "The man, enraged, began to insult his interlocutor" , "The government is looking for new interlocutors in the unions to try to alleviate the crisis" , "In the recording that was released in the media, the Businessman talks on the phone with an unidentified interlocutor .
Examples of interlocutor
Suppose that, at the end of a match, a reporter interviews a soccer player on the playing field. In this case, the athlete is the journalist's interlocutor and vice versa: both have a conversation, exchanging concepts.
In some events, such as conferences and debates, a subject can be the interlocutor of many people who do not dialogue with each other. Take the case of a historian who gives a lecture and then submits to questions from the audience . The historian thus converses with various assistants, who become his interlocutors, while the rest of those present act as listeners.
The concept of interlocutor is also used in an abstract or impersonal way. It can be said, in this framework, that the Church has various social organizations as interlocutors to be close to those who live in the most deprived neighborhoods. This type of expression does not identify the specific interlocutors (that is, those who speak on behalf of the Church and social organizations) and does not even refer to a particular dialogue, but rather is linked to a broader communication process that transcends individual contacts.
In a dialogue, the interlocutors exchange concepts.
Effective communication
Knowing our interlocutor before starting a conversation is one of the fundamental points to achieve effective communication . However, most people are not aware of this need, but rather let themselves be carried away by their own needs, thus giving rise to more than one misunderstanding. The recipient of our message is as important as the message itself, if not more; In fact, the channel through which we present it and the form we give it are also vitally important for the process to be successful.
First of all, we must ask ourselves what results we want to obtain from a given communication in order to consider the best way to carry it out. Generally, it should be enough for the message to reach the receiver and for him to interpret it correctly. In some cases, however, we also want to print other factors, such as surprise.
Next, we must know our interlocutor in detail, to know if both the message and the added intentions are compatible with their way of being. For example, telling a very impressionable person about the surgery process is not appropriate, nor is giving a surprise to someone who only appreciates direct messages and always seeks to have control over the situation .
If the interlocutor meets the necessary characteristics to be able to receive our message, then it is time to look for the most appropriate tools to express it. This point is very broad, since on the one hand we must think about the level of linguistic instruction of the other, but it is also important to adjust to their preferences if the success of communication depends on them. Using terms that are not common in everyday speech to address someone who does not speak the language can be offensive and, in any case, is likely to lead us to complete failure due to a lack of understanding; vulgar language to speak with a person who values decorum above all things is another bad decision. In short, we must think about the interlocutor before ourselves if we want to make ourselves understood.