Cuegiving

Cuegiving is a term used in linguistics and communication studies to describe actions in which a speaker provides cues—verbal, nonverbal, or prosodic—that anticipate or guide a listener’s next move, interpretation, or categorization of information. Unlike a simple assertion, cuegiving is strategic and action-oriented, aimed at shaping how the interlocutor proceeds in the interaction.

Cues can take several forms. Verbal cues include explicit instructions, markers, or phrases such as "this one," "now, think about..." or "we will move on after this." Nonverbal cues involve gaze direction, gestures, body orientation, or timing that signal what the partner should do next. Prosodic cues use changes in intonation, stress, or rhythm to highlight upcoming content or actions. For example, a speaker might begin a sentence with a deliberate pause and rising intonation to signal that a response is expected.

Functions of cuegiving include coordinating turn-taking, signaling a topic shift, prompting recall or decision, inviting a response, and guiding collaborative tasks. Contexts range from casual conversation to classroom instruction, workplace collaboration, and service encounters. Cuegiving helps manage flow and reduce ambiguous overlaps, though it can also lead to misinterpretation or over-cueing if the cue is unclear or excessive.

In research, cuegiving is discussed within conversation analysis and discourse studies as a mechanism for organizing interaction. It is distinguished from backchanneling, which signals listening without prompting a next action, and from cue-taking, which is the listener’s reception and use of those cues.