The Key To Better Listening Isn’t Your Ears, It’s…. Your Finger

I know this might seem a little strange, but I don't have the best hearing.  Strangely, years spent with headphones on makes it a little hard sometimes to hear people speak normally.  Or on the telephone, sometimes that can be very hard.

It's one of those things where you have to be careful.  I've tried all sorts of tricks over the years to not be constantly saying "What?" or "Huh?", "Could you repeat that?"  If you do that too much, people think you're not listening, which is a bummer.  Sometimes bringing a hand up to your ear helps, just as a gesture.  Sometimes I'll try talking louder.  The thinking there is, if I'm having a hard time hearing, they might too, and maybe we can both just talk a little louder.  But that can backfire.

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If you raise your voice, sometimes people mistake that for annoyance or anger, when you're really just trying to raise the volume. So usually before it gets to the part where a person gets frustrated, I'll have to explain that I want to help or whatever, I just can't hear that great all the time. It sucks to have to, you know, stop the conversation and explain that. And sometimes it makes a person treat you differently. But it is what it is, you know?

And if you're in a loud, crowded area?  Like a bar or a club, or a big event or a concert or something?  Forget it. Yeah, most of the time I'm probably just smiling and nodding.  I've probably agreed to a ton of stupid things because after a few times, you just have to stop asking them to speak up.

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'Cos if you don't, people get annoyed and angry, because they don't like repeating themselves.  And again, they think you're not listening. One time a former client got mad enough at me to cuss at me about it. On the job, even.  I didn't say anything though.  Well, I did, I said, "Thank you" and then I walked away.  And we talked it out later. But you get what I'm saying, it's a serious thing.

The Trick Science Found

Luckily for people like me, and maybe like you, science is hard at work on this nonsense. I saw this article in Science Alert, thought it might help.  Basically, they did an experiment in France about this.  They played audio for people, and it was a person talking with a lot of background noises.

Each time a participant began a 'block' of audio comprehension they were instructed to 'prime' themselves before listening by either: tapping their finger rhythmically at their own pace; tapping along to a provided beat; listening (without tapping) to the beat; or simply waiting in silence for the talking to begin.

Basically, they told some of the participants to tap out a rhythm with their finger.  Either to a beat provided or one they knew.  Then, they tap that rhythm with their finger while they're trying to listen.  And it helped SIGNIFICANTLY.

Why Does It Work?

They're not 100% sure.  They think it just comes down to how our brains are wired.  The part that controls fine motor functions is somehow intertwined with the part that controls hearing. They say tapping or moving to a melody can help your brain tune out all that background noise.  So the next time you can't hear because the music is too loud, try tapping your foot to it and see if it helps.

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What do you think?  Is this something you're going to try next time you're in a crowd?

Loudly yours,
Behka