Are you difficult to understand?
Have you ever been told “I can’t understand you?” The first time it happens, it is understandable. But what if it happens to you over and over again? Is it you or is it your listener? There are five reasons why someone can’t understand you.
Here is a checklist you can use to self-assess the problem if you are frequently experiencing this problem. Usually, at least one item is the culprit but a combination is also plausible:
- You are mumbling. Learning to develop good diction will go a long ways towards making your speech heard.
- You aren’t loud enough. Learning to support your voice with good breath support is a sure-fire way to improve vocal volume.
- You have an accent that interferes with intelligibility. Both foreign and regional accents can cause a problem for any listener who is unfamiliar with the differences.
- You aren’t concise. Crafting concise messages that get to the point in a meaningful way is one way to make your message better understood. And finally….
- Your listener is hard-of-hearing. Let’s face it, many people with whom you work are probably hard-of-hearing This is a non-visible problem that you may not even be aware of unless your listener tells you about it. Do you know what to do to compensate for the listener who doesn’t hear well? Strategies that you can do including exaggerating your mouth movements when you speak, face your listener so they can read your lips and be sure you don’t cover your mouth.
If you aren’t understood, you risk losing the most important person in your conversation and the consequence is not particularly good. They won’t hear your great idea, thought or inspiring message. Look for the signs that someone didn’t understand like they ask you to repeat (the obvious sign), cocking their head to the side or eyebrows frowning, a glazed over facial expression, or inappropriate responses, etc. Use this checklist to discern why they might not have understood. Then, make a few adjustments and see if it helps.
If you find yourself struggling with this issue and not sure how to change, we can help. Attend our free live webinar, How to Avoid Getting Asked to Repeat Yourself with a Few Simple Tweaks
You must register. There will not be a recording so please mark your calendar and plan on attending!
Tags: concise messages, diction, difficult to understand, hard to hear, mumbling