How to cope with difficult listening situations

How to cope with difficult listening situations


• Ask speakers to speak in a good light and while facing the listener so that speech-reading skills can be used.• Ask the speaker to speak clearly and naturally but not to shout or exaggerate their articulation.• If you do not understand what a speaker is saying, ask the speaker to repeat or rephrase the statement.• If entering a group in the middle of a conversation, ask one person to sum up the gist of the conversation.• If someone is speaking at a distance, that person should be asked to stand closer.• If the speaker turns his head away, ask him or her to face you to permit optimal speech-reading and listening.• If you are attempting to understand speech in the presence of noise, try to move yourself and the speaker away from the source of the noise.• When in a communication situation requiring exact information, such as asking directions or obtaining schedules for a trip, request that the speaker write the crucial information.• If the speaker is talking while eating, smoking, or chewing, request that he or she not do so because of the difficulties speech-reading.• A person who has a unilateral loss should be sure to keep his or her better ear facing the speaker at all times.• If possible, avoid rooms with poor acoustics. If meetings are held in such rooms, request that they be transferred to other rooms with less reverberation.• If a speaker at a meeting cannot be heard, request that he use a microphone.• Come early to meetings so that you can sit close to the speaker. Avoid taking a seat near a wall to minimize the possibility of reverberation. This is particularly important for those who use hearing aids.• If you are going to a movie or to a theatre, read the reviews in advance to familiarize yourself with the plot.• In an extremely noisy situation, limit conversation to before the noise has started or after it has subsided.•Ask speakers to speak in a good light and while facing the listener so that speech-reading skills can be used.
•Ask the speaker to speak clearly and naturally but not to shout or exaggerate their articulation.
•If you do not understand what a speaker is saying, ask the speaker to repeat or rephrase the statement.
•If entering a group in the middle of a conversation, ask one person to sum up the gist of the conversation.
•If someone is speaking at a distance, that person should be asked to stand closer.
•If the speaker turns his head away, ask him or her to face you to permit optimal speech-reading and listening.
•If you are attempting to understand speech in the presence of noise, try to move yourself and the speaker away from the source of the noise.
•When in a communication situation requiring exact information, such as asking directions or obtaining schedules for a trip, request that the speaker write the crucial information.
•If the speaker is talking while eating, smoking, or chewing, request that he or she not do so because of the difficulties speech-reading.
•A person who has a unilateral loss should be sure to keep his or her better ear facing the speaker at all times.
•If possible, avoid rooms with poor acoustics. If meetings are held in such rooms, request that they be transferred to other rooms with less reverberation.
•If a speaker at a meeting cannot be heard, request that he use a microphone.
•Come early to meetings so that you can sit close to the speaker. Avoid taking a seat near a wall to minimize the possibility of reverberation. This is particularly important for those who use hearing aids.
•If you are going to a movie or to a theatre, read the reviews in advance to familiarize yourself with the plot.
•In an extremely noisy situation, limit conversation to before the noise has started or after it has subsided.