Clear Speech

Clear Speech

Patricia B. Kricos (2005)

Copyright, Universityof Florida, 2005-2010

Talker Differences The TALKER is a key variable affecting speech recognition Talkers differ in: • Rate of speech • Precision of articulation • Loudness of speech • Use of pauses Patricia B. Kricos (2005)


CLEAR SPEECH: A Potential HUGE Help For People with Hearing Impairment And Their Frequent Communication Partners



What is the technique of Clear Speech? Expression of every word and sentence precisely, accurately and in a fully formed manner Provides the clearest possible sample of a spoken utterance



Clear Speech • Not hyper-articulated, but rather style of speaking adopted naturally by many talkers in difficult communication situations: – Noisy environments – Reverberation – Listeners with hearing loss – Foreigners



Goal of Clear Speech: Compensate for the acoustic speech information filtered out or affected by the hearing loss



How? 1. Articulate all sounds precisely and accurately 2. Slow speech rate just a bit 3. Pause slightly between phrases and thoughts 4. Modestly increase vocal volume 5. Lively!



Likely Results • For hearing aid users: Happier and more relaxed communication—you can understand your frequent communication partner more easily! • For the talker: Less need to repeat, less frustration & fewer misunderstandings! ☺ Patricia B. Kricos (2005)


EXAMPLES • She leffer the city – She left bus. onabus.

for the city

on a

• Thekids ‘r swim’n – The kids are swimming in the pool. inthepool.



Examples • Yermother’l be back nexstuesday.

– Your mother will be back next Tuesday.

• Jim’ll haftagotothe denistomorrow.

– Jim will have to go tomorrow.



to the dentist

Clear Speech Benefits • Younger and older listeners with hearing impairment benefit from speech produced in a deliberately clear manner (e.g., see Helfer, JAAA, 1998 for a literature review)



yHelfer (1998) found the older the research participant, the more compromised their audiovisual speech recognition & the greater their clear speech benefit



yFurther, Helfer (1998) found that degree of hearing loss in older adults was not correlated to clear-speech benefit



Can YOU produce Clear Speech???



How? • Slow down just a bit (this is more important than speaking loudly!) • Pause between key phrases to let your listener catch up • Say each sound clearly, especially sounds at the end of words



More Tips • If you want to emphasize a word, try pausing both before and after it, to set it apart from the rest of the sentence. • Do not shout, speak in a monotone, use artificial intonation, or exaggerated speech movements.



Main Points to Remember • Clear speech can be a HUGE help to people who have difficulty understanding you, and it can be a HUGE help to you, since people will know what you are saying to them • Most people can learn to use clear speech • Clear speech is not exaggerated, but rather it is clear articulation and the use of meaningful pauses Patricia B. Kricos (2005)


Two Last Tips • Practice makes perfect! • It’s easy to forget to use clear speech, so you may want to work out a reminder system with your conversation partners: – EX: If your partner points to her ear, that means slow down a bit, speak clearly, and use pauses

