Group size for conversations?

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This was posted before, but I thought it would work better in its own thread:

What kind of groups do people find is conducive to conversation? I think 3 is the best number. With two people there are always awkward silences where I'm struggling to find something to say. With 4 or more I find it hard to find an opportunity or I'll be afraid that some people will vehemently disagree with me and I'll have to defend my position... which is hard for me to do on the spot (I always come up with the brilliant counter-argument like 2 hours later!)

one on one is always best for me. I can't keep up with more than 2 people at the same time.

I perfer one-on-one, however this is possible with more than just myself and the other person present; I can be having or following more than one one-on-one conversations if they're not actually talking at once (this is easier over messengers). If I'm with a group, if everyone takes turns talking, I can follow small group converstaions (five people or less, generally, more than that and people will generally not take turns.) If two people talk at once I have to try and tune in to one and then the other rapidly and let my brain fill in the blanks; I cannot process two people simultaneously.

just one, i think. then i can gabble on to myself, and send myself to sleep with boredom. i have been practising - i can now interrupt myself, ignore myself, and have an argument with myself with ease.




p.s. - seriously - one on one.

One on one is good if the other person has the same kind of thinking and interests or is someone I can relate to in every way. Other than that, I stuggle to keep conversation flowing.

Being part of a threesome has always been my best social combo when hosting a BBQ, being "out with the boys", or on my fishing trips.

Some of my most pleasurable conversations ever have been on double dates. Anything more than a foursome -well... I never can get to "say my piece" and I tend to zone out more.

At a bigger gathering, I might find one person with whom I can really chat-up a storm. It that doesn't happen or if I can't relate to anybody there, I quietly slip from the scene.

Usually the smaller group, the better. I like it with either one other person or sometimes two. Any more than three or four is extremely difficult to follow what's happening and what everyone is saying. This includes the background noise of someone else's conversation, or even the radio.

When I'm only talking with one other person, the conversations tend to be more meaningful and more personal. When I'm talking with two or three people, it's still pretty relative and important, but with four or more, it's time to call in the tangent police.

Tangent Police, by definition, are people who are appointed within a group conversation to keep the discussion on-track and pertinent. They have the authority to point out when the discussion has become unimportant and punish violators after a few warnings, depending on the situation.

One on one seems to work best for me. When there's three people I either say nothing at all, or do all the talking to one person and forget about the other one. For some reason I like conversations with four people as well, after that there's too man people in the conversation and I loose track of what everyone has said.

One on one with someone I don't know makes me VERY nervous.

I feel MUCH more relaxed with 3 or more, because for some reason if no-one talks I don't really feel anny pressure to.

Either two or three is good for me. It depends on the person and the conversation topic, but those are the best group sizes for me. If the group gets any bigger, I get overstimulated just trying to keep up with the conversation.

I 3-way-talk with my 2 best friends almost every night.The highest number of people in a group I like would be like 8 although I can tolerate 10.It can't be higher than 20 though...

-SpaceCase

3-way is the best way to go for me. The conversation stays simple enough to follow the dission, not have too much trouble with interrupting somebody, and avoid akward silence.

One-on-one makes me very uncomfortable most of the time, unless it is someone I know fairly well and I am in a reasonably "sociable" mood.

Otherwise three, because then I can contribute if I want, but otherwise just listen.

Any more than three, and I just sit in the corner and say nothing.

I'd say four (including myself) is probably the best for me. If it's two, there's too much pressure on me to keep the conversation going. If it's three, I'll sometimes feel like the "third wheel". And if it's more than four, the conversation can get overwhelming for me, and it will be hard for me to find a place for me to say anything.

One or zero.