Based on extensive analysis of real-time, authentic crisis encounters collected in the UK and US, Crisis Talk: Negotiating with Individuals in Crisis sheds light on the relatively hidden world of communication between people in crisis and the professionals whose job it is to help them.

Rein Ove Sikveland is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Academic and Professional Communication at NTNU, Norway. His expertise is in conversation analysis and phonetics. Rein researches the linguistic and interactional practices that underpin practitioners' management of conversations in education, health services and crisis negotiations.

Heidi Kevoe-Feldman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Northeastern University, USA. She uses conversation analysis to examine communication patterns and problems that arise in institutional settings. Recent research projects include working with emergency medical dispatch call centres with a focus on identifying various barriers (e.g. physical, psychological, and communication) that interfere with helping callers in a time of crisis.

Elizabeth Stokoe is Professor of Social Interaction in the Discourse and Rhetoric Group at Loughborough University, UK. Her current research interests are in conversation analysis, membership categorization, and social interaction in various ordinary and institutional settings, including neighbour mediation, police interrogation, role-play, and simulated interaction.

1. Crisis talk, from practice to training 2. Getting the conversation started 3. How words reduce resistance towards the negotiation 4: Managing emotion 5. Overcoming resistance 6. 'Coming down' - scaffolding a resolution to the crisis 7. Backstage/frontstage and the negotiation team 8. From practice to training