1- Make sure that your face and mouth are clearly visible. Do not eat, chew, or smoke while talking.
2- Move away from background noise, or turn off background TV, radio, running water.
3- Speak within a few feet of the listener.
4- Keep your sense of humor.
5- Don’t laugh if the hearing impaired has misunderstood the message but explain him the comic of the situation.
6- Stay calm and repeat the message as many times as necessary.
7- Don’t focus on the hearing aid.
8- Don’t focus on the hearing impaired during the conversation, nor avoid him, but make sure that he has understood the message.
9- Speak slowly at a normal loudness level. Yelling distorts speech sounds.
10- Get the person’s visual attention before you start speaking.
11- Do not exaggerate mouth movements to help with lip reading.
12- Rephrase rather than repeat missed words.
13- Clue the listener in as to the topic or changes in the topic.
14- Encourage the listener to let you know if he/she does not understand.
15- Use facial expressions and gestures.
16- When in doubt, ask the hard of hearing person for suggestions to improve communications.
17- When entering a group in the middle of a conversation, ask one person to sum up the gist of the conversation.
18- When in a communication situation requiring exact information such as directions or sch
