The research behind the app

Every lesson in Conversetta rests on research, described in our own words. This is the one place where we name the studies.

How we use research

Strong evidence

Many studies agree.

Promising evidence

Good studies, but fewer of them.

Expert practice

Widely used by coaches and practitioners, not directly tested.

Nothing that failed replication is taught.

By direction

Expert practice

Some lessons also use ideas that practitioners rely on but research hasn't tested directly:

• Preparing a few topics before a social event helps, and isn't inauthentic.
• Keep a hello easy to turn down: brief where someone can't easily walk away, and a warm exit when the replies stay short.
• Listening that others notice is responsive and said out loud, not silent eye contact.
• A warm start (turning towards someone, an easy greeting, a calm pace with pauses) is a widely used way to come across as approachable.
• Making it easy to say no ("Say if it doesn't work for you") is a widely used, honest way to ask.
• Open "how" and "what" questions ("What would make this work for you?") invite them to explain, and sound less like a challenge than "why".
• Repeating their last few words as a question ("The timing?") is a widely used way to get someone to say more.
• Naming what you think worries them, as a light guess ("Sounds like the timing is the hard part"), is a widely used way to calm a tense moment and show you understand.
• Summing up what they said until they agree it's right is a widely used way to check you've understood before you make your case.
• When things get tense, a calm, slow, friendly voice is a widely used way to keep a negotiation steady.
• When someone pushes with a sudden deadline, a take-it-or-leave-it or a "final" number, it's a widely used approach to slow down, ask what's behind it, and check it against your plan B.

What research can't tell you

1. Most studies come from North America and Europe, so results may differ in other cultures.
2. The effects are real but modest; these are improvements, not transformations.
3. Much relationship research shows links, not proven causes.
4. Research can describe relationships, but it can't predict yours.
5. Most findings rely on people describing themselves.
6. This is practice, not therapy. Some things need a professional — resources are always in the app.
7. Structured programme studies show bigger effects than everyday-life studies; we don't mix the two.
8. When behaviour is measured objectively, effects often look smaller.
9. Positive results get published more often than null results.
10. An app only helps if it's used: regular practice matters more than any single tip.

Our advisors

Our scientific and clinical advisors will be named here once their contracts are in place.