{"id":774,"date":"2019-01-25T14:37:54","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T14:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krisp.ai\/blog\/?p=774"},"modified":"2025-01-24T15:20:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T11:20:19","slug":"communicating-in-noisy-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krisp.ai\/blog\/communicating-in-noisy-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Communicate in a Noisy Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

How many times have you covered your ears and realized noise is still performing a solo on your eardrums? Countless. And how many times did you do that at work? Also countless. <\/span><\/p>\n

Noisy environment is one of the main stress triggers for employees and has a negative impact on productivity. Fighting it is difficult because you can\u2019t leave the workspace or cancel your work plans just because there\u2019s noise surrounding you. Common practices like yelling at others to hear you or asking them to keep quiet are also barely effective. <\/span><\/p>\n

[demo-new]<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where to start from.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you define a noisy environment? <\/b><\/h2>\n

You may be in a noisy environment, but you can\u2019t always tell if it\u2019s harmful or not, so let\u2019s break this down real quick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Noise<\/span><\/a> consists of infinite single sources frequencies. Human ear audible frequency range is from 20Hz up to 20000Hz (above that are ultrasounds). Typical speechless noise activities in a business office are about 65 decibels, and a casual conversation in a quiet area is around 60 decibels.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"noise<\/p>\n

Sounds higher than 85 decibels are damaging to human ear. Now imagine a bunch of casual conversations happening in your office. Also note that loud conversations with some yelling reach up to 90-95 decibels. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll give you a moment to realize what your ears endure on a daily basis. <\/span><\/p>\n

By the way rock concerts are about 130db, which can cause permanent ear damage, but that\u2019s just a side note. No one probably would miss their favorite bands performing simply to preserve hearing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What happens when you\u2019re exposed to a noisy environment?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Having an adequate amount of signal-to-noise ratio in a noisy area is difficult, because people often assume that the louder they speak the higher is their chance to be heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"team<\/p>\n

For the conversation to be understood the speech signal needs to exceed background noise, however the noise exposure from loud conversation is still damaging, and there\u2019s a limit to how long you can shout. <\/span><\/p>\n

The inner ear has sensory cells and nerve fibers that only work properly if the sound is low or moderate. So if you boost the sound through amplification, the signal in your inner ear will be distorted and you won\u2019t understand easily, no matter how hard you try. <\/span><\/p>\n

Exposure to loud sound over a course of time leads to a <\/span>noise-induced hearing loss<\/span> (NIHL).<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a 2017 <\/span>study<\/span> conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 19% of young adults in the U.S. (aged 20-29) had unilateral and bilateral audiometric notches, while 4% of them had an audiometric notches which occurred from noise-induced hearing loss.\u00a0<\/span>Judging by this, 40 million U.S. adults may have noise-induced hearing loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s also important to know is that 33% of adults (aged 20-69) had an audiometric noise notch and reported to be exposed to loud noise at work. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, getting noise-induced hearing loss is probable if you\u2019re exposed to working in a noisy environment for a while. The thing is, how can you know if it\u2019s damaging you?<\/span><\/p>\n

How to understand if the noise is damaging to your ears<\/b><\/h2>\n

Pay close attention to how you feel in your workspace. Often times you may feel like the sound is not harmful, and you might ignore some of the warnings your brain gives you. Noise-induced hearing loss can occur even if you\u2019re exposed to moderate level of sound for a longer time, rather than loud sounds in short time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"girl<\/p>\n

Your hearing may be affected if:<\/span><\/p>\n