Holiday Events and Hearing Loss: 3 Tips for Coping

Do you dread going to noisy holiday parties because you are having trouble hearing people? Here are some tips to help.

First, if you have a hearing aid, wear it! It has been programmed to your specific hearing pattern, so use it! If you don't use it much, read the manual or online instructions and try it out in a noisy place ahead of time.

At the party, you will hear better with less competing noise. Talk to people in a side room or hall if that's quieter.

If you are really interested in talking to someone, self-advocate! Tell the person you have a hearing loss, and ask if they can repeat a specific word or sentence. If they try to talk louder, ask if they can talk a little slower instead, but not exaggerate their words.

If you are at a holiday dinner or other event, try to face the person to whom you are talking. This will help with lip-reading as well as watching body language.

The e-book What Did You Say? Coping with Hearing Loss in the Workplace, has practical strategies and is a quick-read concise source of help. Get it before your next event!

Holiday Events and Hearing Loss: 3 Tips for Coping

Do you dread going to noisy holiday parties because you are having trouble hearing people? Here are some tips to help.

First, if you have a hearing aid, wear it! It has been programmed to your specific hearing pattern, so use it! If you don't use it much, read the manual or online instructions and try it out in a noisy place ahead of time.

At the party, you will hear better with less competing noise. Talk to people in a side room or hall if that's quieter.

If you are really interested in talking to someone, self-advocate! Tell the person you have a hearing loss, and ask if they can repeat a specific word or sentence. If they try to talk louder, ask if they can talk a little slower instead, but not exaggerate their words.

If you are at a Thanksgiving dinner or other event, try to face the person whom you are interested in talking to. This will help with lip-reading as well as watching body language.

The e-book What Did You Say? Coping with Hearing Loss in the Workplace, has practical strategies and is a quick-read concise source of help. Get it before your next event!

How to communicate easier with someone with a hearing loss

Communicating with People with a Hearing Loss
It takes people seven years on average to realize they have a hearing loss, and some people are not helped by hearing aids. It is better to assume someone has a hearing loss if they stare at your lips, give an answer that may not be appropriate to the question asked, turn their head slightly so their "good ear" is aimed at your mouth, or do better at answering written than spoken questions.

"What did you say?"is a valuable e-book to help others communicate more effectively with a person with a hearing loss.

Business Speech Improvement can also develop specific tip-sheets for your business or industry on communicating more effectively with your customers or employees who may have a hearing impairment, and teach lip-reading and related skills.

Hearing Loss and Your Employees

"Isolated", "frustrated", and "worried" were three words used recently by a group of corporate employees to describe their feelings about their hearing loss. Hearing loss affects 10% of the population, including 33% of those age 65. Now a worrisome 20% of late teens report some of the signs of hearing loss, for the first time in history. Yet few corporations offer training in techniques to cope with hearing loss.

Employees report that they may hesitate to speak during department meetings, because they are not certain of what has already been said or, sometimes, even the topic under discussion. When a group has a meeting in a noisy room, such as a restaurant, that makes the communication worse.

"What Did You Say? Strategies for Helping a Person with a Hearing Loss", is an e-book for helping supervisors, colleagues, friends and spouses learn better ways to communicate with people with hearing loss. It provides information on simple techniques that can
be easily implemented.