Joseph Stalin and Maxim Gorky in conversation (1931).

A conversation is two or more people talking about something. It is spontaneous, usually unplanned, though the people may have interests in common.

Conversations are one of the basic types of human communication. They can be about any subject, and do not necessarily have any fixed purpose. They allow people with different views of a topic to learn from each other. A conversation may be contrasted with formal presentations. A talk or speech, for example is an oral presentation by one person directed at a group. It is basically a one-way communication.