I Have a Week Long Work Meeting/Class with Someone That Is a Very Loud Talker

I have a class coming up with a person that I believe is losing their hearing and ends up shouting at everyone because he doesn't know how loud his voice is. It will be myself, another guy, and the instructor that is loud so it will be up close and personal all week long. My tinnitus reacts to loud noises and I'm really not sure what to do in this situation.

How do you politely deal with loud talkers? I have found most loud talkers are that way because they are losing their hearing and they speak louder so they can hear their own voice. I seem to be guilty of the opposite. I get uncomfortable sitting across from a loud talker for a few hours, much less a whole week.

 

Try to keep a distance between you and the speaker. Keep in mind that it's not only the loudness that matters but also frequency. The human voice frequency is natural to us. To be safe you can wear some hi-fidelity earplugs with flat attenuating filters. Check out: Voice Level at Distance and EPA Recommendation

 

plug'em

 

If you're uncomfortable with telling him the truth, you could say that you have an ear infection and that your hearing a little sensitive and painful to noises. Everyone understands infection and will understand this more than tinnitus explanation.

 

If they have hearing problems they will understand, so it's best to be frank with them and tell they are talking loud and you have trouble with that due to hearing sensitivity.

However there is people who naturally talk loud and do not have hearing loss.

 

Unfortunately it's going to be up close and personal. Like sitting right next to the person in front of a system we are working on. Not like a classroom setting.

 

I see. Then get those earplugs. I like the ones with filters from Dynamic Ear Company that also minimize the occlusion effect & 'hot ear' + irritation with their membrane tech, e.g. ProGuard Lin-Ear PR20 linear attenuation, or DEC's own brand Crescendo, filtered foam earplugs etc. So even when you're having a very loud convo that's minus - 12 or - 16 dB. When he's talking to you try to look him in the face so he's not shouting directly to your ear and yeah, the story with ear infection or having sensitive hearing could help too. I think you'll be ok. Let us know how it went.

"Dynamic Ear non-linear acoustic filters provide a large open air passage into the ear minimising the occlusion effect whilst also keeping the ear ventilated for the ultimate user comfort. Dynamic Ear linear acoustic filters use membranes according to our patented membrane technology. The membranes are designed to have the biggest surface in the given form factor. Since the membrane is made of a breathable material, this leads to optimal breathing of the filter, which enables moisture in the ear canal to escape keeping the ear canal cool and providing all day comfort. The advanced membrane is tuned to maintain natural hearing, speech being clearly heard."​

 

Bumping this. The class got cancelled, but I have an upcoming one that is two weeks long with the same person. It will be 1 on 1 so we will be right next to each other. He's a nice guy but just ends up shouting at everyone because (I'm guessing) he doesn't know how loud his voice is. I can explain my hearing sensitivity, but if people don't even know how loud they are talking because they have a little bit of hearing loss, it's not something they can easily control. Besides wearing plugs I'm not sure how to deal with this. My ears do react to loud people even with plugs.

I could wear my NC headphones over, but people automatically assume you are rude and ignoring them if you do this.

 

"I'm not trying to be rude: I have an ear disease that requires me to wear these headphones."

 

I went out to dinner last night with my company in a very loud restaurant. The guy sitting next to me knows I have this condition and was yelling at someone down the table and basically shouted right in my ear. I am now dealing with a friggin spike in that ear that I'm sure will go away. I was wearing earplugs too. People that don't deal with this all the time just don't get it and I really don't expect them too. I feel half dead in the land of the living.

 

I had to duck out of several company dinners last month because it was too loud. I agree, people that don't have to deal with it just don't get it.

This will be two weeks long. I don't know how to deal with it.