Going back to Erin's example of showing actions by the speaker to indicate who is talking:
That technique is often called "using beats." And by and large, it's an excellent way to avoid repititious attributions or flamboyant verbs to show who said what. Nevertheless, as with any technique, moderation is the key. If you put in a beat with every line of dialogue, you are likely to overwhelm the dialogue with action. And if the conversation you are showing is important, you probably don't want to do that. So again, you might want to have a beat every few lines or so, to help the reader visualize the scene and know who is speaking.
Schoolmarm
