Negotiating expert status: who gets taken seriously

lay person may listen puzzled as a specialist in a public hear-R i n g discusses a technical point. Similarly, a challenging question from a technically knowledgeable member of the audience may be difficult to fathom. Failure to understand what a speaker discusses-despite one's interest in a topic-can cause frustration, anger, and despair. It makes a listener wonder why they are there trying to engage, and why technical specialists persist in such a style of presentation. Breakdowns in coinmunication between technical and nontechnical people are linked to the concept of " expert. " This link involves the process of the " negotiation of expert status. " The phrase, " the negotiation of expert status, " refers to the social construction of the role of " expert " by participants in a conversation. The term " negotiation " refers to the sometimes subtle and sometimes overtly contentious nature of a debate about who deserves to be listened to as a voice of authority on a particular topic [II-C93.