May is Better Hearing and Speech Month with a focus on workplace communication. If you have hearing loss, remote work communications can leave you feeling out of the loop. Don’t struggle on the sidelines. Video conferences and closed captions are available for your work meetings so that you won’t miss out.
Hearing Loss And Work Communication
Let your voice be heard and talk to your employer or the meeting organizer about your hearing loss needs. Now is the time to set up a hearing strategy so you won’t have to struggle to keep up during your work call.
Try these tips during your next work video conference:
- Use video: Seeing faces means you can read lips. Visual cues will help you clarify conversations.
- Find frontal light sources: Lighting in front of your face will keep your mouth from being obstructed by shadows. Politely ask others to do the same if you’re struggling to see their faces.
- Make small talk: Use the start of the meeting to chat with your coworkers and troubleshoot audio problems before you talk business.
- Practice good manners: Don’t interrupt others and don’t cover your mouth while you’re speaking.
- Mute your device: It will reduce background noise, and you won’t have to worry about feedback interfering with your hearing.
Plug-In And Listen Up
Earbuds, headphones, and Bluetooth hearing aids will help cut out intrusive background noise. With Bluetooth, you can wirelessly pair your hearing aids to any of your smart devices You’ll benefit from natural-sounding audio delivered right to your hearing aids. It’s also a hands-free application, so you can keep working while you listen.
Study Your Tool Kit
You’ll likely be able to record meetings, activate closed captions, and share screens during your conference calls. Explore your video chat application before your meeting to get a handle on the ins and outs of the program.
- Recording a meeting: It’s usually up to the meeting organizer to record video conferences. Talk to the meeting organizer before the call to see if a recording is an option. It’s also a fail-safe in case you lose your wireless connection and get back up to speed.
- Closed Captions: Captions are essential to quality communication and understanding. If you have trouble seeing or hearing your coworkers over video chat, captions are the way to go. Captions can be typed by the webinar host or assigned to someone else. Meeting applications like Zoom and Google Meet offer closed captions for all users.
- Share the screen: Share your screen if you’re hosting a video conference and highlight information so your coworkers can follow along as you go.
If you’re concerned about hearing quality at work, contact Audio Help Hearing Centers. We offer hearing evaluations and services to ensure you the best possible hearing experience. Call 888-832-9966 for more information.
