If you still have difficulty following conversation when wearing your hearing aid, the communication tactics listed below may help.
Share these with your family, friends and anyone you communicate with, it will make things easier for you and them.
· Be open; tell the person you’re speaking to that you have hearing loss
· Ask people to speak clearly, but not to shout
· Ask people to slow down if they are talking too quickly
· Ask people to get your attention before speaking
· Face the person & ask them to face you to pick up gestures, facial expressions & body language.
· Ask people to repeat things you have missed or ask them to rephrase it
· Keep calm. If you feel anxious you might find it harder to follow conversations
· Watch people’s faces, this helps you to lip read
· Move to a quieter place. Hearing in background noise is difficult especially if you have hearing aids
· Move nearer. Your hearing aid only has a small microphone, so the closer to the person you are, the better.
· It may be helpful to use questions with a yes/no answer (e.g. Did you say 2 o’clock? Instead of saying did you say 2 or 3 o'clock?)
· Be kind to yourself! No one hears everything that everyone says the first time round.