The Car Talk: which types it suits

The car talk is having the conversation side by side, both facing forward, rather than across a table. It doesn't have to be a car: the back seat of a bus or two seats on a train work much the same way. Turn the music down and let the scenery do some of the work. With no eye contact to react to, sentences get finished, and things that were hard to say face to face come out more easily.

A built-in time limit helps too. The journey has an end, so the conversation can't sprawl forever, and arriving gives it a natural full stop. It suits people who tense up face to face, and those who like to go through a problem one step at a time. If someone's driving, the road comes first: if things get heated, pause and pick it up once you've parked.