Everyday listening
Phone calls are one of the hardest everyday listening tasks with hearing aids or a cochlear implant. There are good reasons for that, and there are real ways to make calls easier, starting today.
On a call you lose the things that usually help you the most. There is no face to read, so lip cues are gone. The audio is compressed, which thins out the sound your brain uses to fill gaps.
And most calls come through one ear, so you lose the boost of hearing with both. With no face, thinner audio, and one ear, a phone call is much harder than the same conversation in person.
No lip reading or facial cues
Compressed audio that loses detail
Usually one ear instead of two
You do not have to wait to make calls easier. A few changes help right away, and most cost nothing.
Try these and keep the ones that work for you. Different setups suit different people.
Stream calls straight to your hearing aids or processor over Bluetooth, so the sound reaches both ears
Use speakerphone in a quiet room when streaming is not an option
Try a captioned-call app so you can read along while you listen
Switch to a video call when you can, so you get lip cues back
Phones strip away lip cues and compress the sound.
A phone call asks you to follow one voice with no visual cues. That is a specific skill, and it is exactly what the right practice builds.
Practicing with a single voice and no face to read builds the same skill a call uses. Conversation practice, where you follow a speaker and respond, is close to what you do on the phone.
Start in quiet, with a clear single voice, so your brain has a solid signal to work with. Then add difficulty a little at a time.
Start with a voice you can follow. Add harder listening as you get steadier. Over time, one voice with no face to read feels more natural.
Start with one clear voice in quiet
Practice following and responding, without watching a face
Add difficulty gradually as it gets easier
SoundSteps uses single-voice listening and conversation practice, which line up well with what phone calls require. You start calm and build up on your own terms.
It will not change how a phone compresses sound. What it can do is help your brain get better at the audio-only, one-voice task that a call is, so the next call feels a bit less draining.
FAQ
Phone calls remove lip cues, compress the audio, and usually come through one ear. That makes them harder than the same conversation in person.
Stream calls directly to your hearing aids or processor over Bluetooth so the sound reaches both ears. In a quiet room, speakerphone also helps.
Yes. A captioned-call app lets you read along while you listen, which takes pressure off and helps you catch words you might miss.
Yes. Following a single voice with no visual cues is a skill, and it is exactly what a phone call asks of you. Practicing it can make calls feel less draining.
When you can, yes. A video call gives back lip cues and facial expressions, which makes following the conversation easier.
Related reading
Take the free listening check, then practice following one clear voice. Start in quiet and build from there.
