talk

Talk is the act of conveying information through spoken language and the content of such speech. It also refers to formal public addresses or to a space for discussion, such as a talk page on a collaboratively edited encyclopedia.

In linguistics and communication studies, talk is analyzed as interactive discourse. Topics include turn-taking, topic management, politeness strategies, and speech acts—the actions performed via utterances, such as asserting, promising, or apologizing.

Common forms include everyday talk, formal talks and lectures, public addresses, and media formats like talk shows and TED Talks. In education, talks may serve as presentations or seminars. In public life, talk can function to persuade, inform, or entertain.

In online and collaborative environments, a talk page is a space dedicated to discussing edits and content; etiquette and sourcing are typically emphasized. In computing history, the Unix talk program allowed two users to exchange text messages over a network.

See also: conversation, speech, communication, public speaking, talk show, TED Talk, talk page.