Expert: Erin E. Maio-Harrison, MA,CCC-SLP - 4/8/2006

Question
Hello, I am a 40yr male.  I get feedback from many that I sometimes mumble.  I can hear myself just fine. :)  I say that they are not listening closely.  Much of this stems from my tendancy to not to be loud and obnoxious as I see this as a personality that I definetely do not want to have.  As a computer engineer, I train people sometimes one on one or in groups of 40 or more.  I have never been asked to "please repeat that" nor am I asked to speak up.  I purposely talk louder when in this setting as I know that I must to reach the people in the back of the room.  I have no hearing problems or any problems pronouncing letters or sounds.  Could this just be a matter of my paying more attention to my volume on a intrapersonal type communication where I am just casually talking to one person?

Thanks

Answer
Well hello George-

I am married to an engineer so I think I know how to explain this.   You need to problem solve, use the scientific approach.  It sounds like you started, let me just help you along a bit...

1.  Who specifically is giving this feedback?  

I don't know your age, but could your listener(s) have any hearing loss?  Don't laugh!  A longitudinal study of hearing thresholds among individuals screened for noise exposure, otologic disease, and hereditary hearing loss showed that hearing thresholds decline progressively above age twenty years in men, and above age fifty years in women (Pearson et al.). The decline in hearing thresholds of the men was more than twice as fast as that of the women, at certain ages. Women showed the greatest decline in hearing sensitivity in the low frequencies, whereas men showed the greatest decline in the higher frequencies.

So if your voice is pretty low, it's the ladies who might be having the most trouble.


2.  Is there a certain setting where this happens more than others?  Background noise can be the problem.  The obvious example would be a noisy bar or club. The less obvious would be a radio, tv, or machinary. Even the AC!  Remember, your voice is at a certain frequency and other sounds at  different frequencies can mask or cancel out some of your signals.  Think about how a fan or static tv can mask out the neighbors dog barking.  Or those fancy "noise-cancelling" headphones to wear on the plane.

3.  How are you positioned when you are doing the "intrapersonal type communication" thing? Are you like my husband, and talking thru a mouthful of cereal while your head is down, reading the paper?  Are you standing at the stove, with your back to the listener while the vent is on?  Are you asking questions while tying your shoes or washing your hands?  When you speak to your trainees, you are front and center, making eye-contact, conciously aware of your message.  With that special someone...maybe not so much.

So your volume may not be the problem. It's probably a combination of factors that vary from setting to setting and person to person (unless it's just one particular "person" giving you that "feedback".)  Try trouble-shooting using the above suggestions, and modify as seems appropriate.  Be aware of background noise, eye-contact, etc.

Good Luck George! Let me know if I can help again (assuming I helped this time!)

Erin E. Harrison MA,CCC-SLP
Speech/Language Pathologist