Tips for Communicating with the Hard of Hearing

It takes two people to communicate! Talking at someone and expecting them to hear whatever you are saying is very different to making a more concerted effort to communicate. Someone who cannot hear properly may need some adjustment on your behalf to help them communicate. If you want to improve the quality of your conversation, then this is the guide for you.

Have Some Patience

Your attitude will really help the other person if they are hard of hearing. Even though conversations with those who cannot hear properly can be frustrating, you need to have patience and you also need to try and stay focused on the communication aspect as opposed to the challenge.

Eliminate Any Background Noise

Do whatever you can to try and choose a location that does not have a lot of background noise. Make sure that you turn down any televisions and also make the effort to turn off electric appliances too. If you know that you are going to a restaurant, try and move away from the crowd before you communicate and also make sure that you do what you can to talk when the noise breaks down a bit.

Consider Lighting

Believe it or not, non-verbal cues can make a huge difference when you are communicating with someone who cannot hear very well. Lighting allows the other person to see you and it will greatly enhance your conversation, so make sure that you keep that in mind if you possibly can.

Maintain Eye Contact

Eye contact is incredibly powerful because your facial expressions are a huge part of communication. The other person, although they might not be able to hear what you’re saying, might not be able to understand you. If you can maintain eye contact then this will help them to clarify what you are saying, even if they end up missing a few words now and again.

Keep Your Hands Away from Your Face

Having your hands in front of your face or your mouth can muffle sounds and they can also stop other people from being able to pick up on your visual cues. You need to try and make a conscious effort to avoid speaking if you know that your hands are close to your face or your mouth.

Grab Their Attention

Assuming that the other person can hear you, but they are ignoring you is frustrating. That being said, you have to know that it is frustrating for them too. You can avoid this situation if you make sure that you have their attention before you begin speaking to them, as opposed to speaking to them and making an assumption that you have their attention.

Speak with Clarity

Speaking clearly is absolutely essential but you can overdo it. Make sure that you are making a conscious effort to enunciate and that you do so without raising your voice or exaggerating your mouth movements. Make sure that you pause often so that you can allow them to catch up or even so that you can ask them for clarification. Provide clear signals for when you change subjects as well. If you can do this, then it will stop them from having to strain or even struggle when it comes to them keeping up with the conversation.

Repeat Important Information

When you communicate important information to someone who might be hard of hearing, you have to make sure that you repeat what you have said, and ask them to repeat it back to you. If you do this, then you will make sure that they have a good idea of what you want, or mean and that there is no misunderstanding. This is a very good habit if you want to get into the habit of talking to those who are not hard of hearing, as it will improve your own communication.

Rephrase and Don’t Repeat

If you are talking with someone who has hearing loss then various words, sounds or tones can be very difficult to process. This is usually when consonants become lost. To someone who has hearing loss, a sentence can be a long string of vowels. When someone asks you to repeat someone, it is wise for you to try and choose different words, as opposed to repeating the same words again and again. If you do this, then your method of communication will greatly increase. If you want to find out more about hearing loss, or if you can help yourself then contact the Hearing Wellness Centre today at (844) 663-9433.