If you have read our blog “The Lombard Effect – Why We Shout in Noisy Places”, you already know the Lombard effect is the involuntary tendency to increase our vocal effort when speaking in loud environments. When it becomes difficult to hear ourselves or others due to background noise, we naturally raise our voices to compensate. The problem? Everyone else is doing the same thing! This creates a vicious cycle where the overall noise level continues to rise, making it even harder to understand speech.
But what happens when you use LIZN Hearpieces®? We asked Rick, who has been testing Hearpieces® for us for several months.
LIZN: How do you experience the Lombard effect when you use LIZN Hearpieces®?
Rick: I use the Hearpieces® in many different kinds of situations where it may be noisy or hard to concentrate on hearing speech. They have become absolutely indispensable for me in restaurants, cafes, receptions with many people, and family events. I can almost say that the situations that I like the most are precisely the situations where, before I tested LIZN, I found it increasingly difficult to understand what people were saying. When there was noise, people shouted louder and louder, and in the end, no one could hear what the other was saying.
So, it was almost a revolution for me when I started using the LIZN Hearpieces® in those situations, because suddenly I could understand what was being said on the other side of the table. But at the same time, everyone started criticizing me for not being able to hear what I was saying.
LIZN: So that's what you call the Reverse Lombard Effect?
Rick: Exactly. What happened was – completely unconsciously – I could understand what was being said, and I lowered my own voice so that those around me couldn't hear me. So, I had to remind myself to shout louder so that people could understand what I was saying.
LIZN: Have you learned to shout in noisy environments?
Rick: If you ask my wife, I have never learned it at all. She constantly complains that I speak too softly when I use Hearpieces® in noise. But the solution was right there. I got an extra test copy from LIZN, so that she can now also decode what is being said.
LIZN: So the problem is solved?
Rick: Not at all. Even though my wife can now understand what I say, we both speak so softly that no one else can hear what we say. We are constantly told to speak louder.
LIZN: So what is the solution?
Rick: The solution is quite simple. If everyone used LIZN Hearpieces®, three things would happen. Firstly, everyone would understand each other. Secondly, the noise level would drop when people stopped shouting. And thirdly, people wouldn't lose their voices from shouting the day after they had been to a party. … laughs Rick.
Check out more of Rick’s experience with LIZN Hearpieces® by following our social media.
