If you’ve got a hearing loss, I know that sometimes it’s just hard to have a conversation or understand what’s being said. That’s why I’ve put together these tips that you can use to make every conversation a great conversation.

They break down into two categories: ones you can use in advance, and ones you can use during a conversation.

All of us with hearing loss know how hard it can sometimes be to converse comfortably with our friends and family. We get tired, frustrated and sometimes just tune out. But it is hard on those that love us as well. They don’t like to see us struggle or be unhappy; and they can get annoyed that we don’t understand what they are saying. Today’s post is for them. Please share these tips with your friends and family and enjoy better conversations!

Have you ever been with friends in a noisy restaurant and had trouble keeping up with a lively conversation across the table? Or sat through a meeting and allowed your thoughts to drift? If you’re a normal hearing person, you probably do it without giving it much thought. But for a person with hearing loss, listening is exhausting. If you live, work or socialize with someone who is hard of hearing, you just might want to understand this fully so that you can appreciate the effort, and make changes to the way you communicate. 

Anyone can have trouble understanding spoken words – even people with normal hearing or those who compensate for hearing loss with hearing aids. This can have serious and far-reaching effects on any family. In my own family, I've tried to teach the kids to avoid saying "What?" when they don't understand someone. Instead, we say, "I don't understand what you are saying," and give the speaker an opportunity to change something in their delivery so they can be understood.