Speaking clearly to people with hearing loss: Does it make speech sound less natural?

What is it about?

Speaking clearly is often recommended to help people with hearing loss understand conversations. It typically involves speaking more slowly, pronouncing words carefully, and pausing more frequently. However, these changes may make speech sound less natural. Our study compared everyday speech, untrained clear speech, and clear speech following a 30-minute training session. Twenty-eight listeners rated recordings from 12 speakers for naturalness. We found that everyday speech sounded the most natural, while trained clear speech sounded the least natural. Slower speaking rates and increased pausing were associated with reduced naturalness. These findings highlight the importance of balancing clarity with naturalness when teaching communication strategies to people with hearing loss and their communication partners.

Why is it important?

Although clear speech is widely recommended to improve communication for people with hearing loss, little is known about how natural it sounds. Our study is among the first to examine this question. We found that even brief clear speech training made speech sound significantly less natural, particularly when speakers slowed down excessively. These findings highlight the need for training approaches that balance speech clarity with naturalness, potentially improving everyday communication for people with hearing loss and their communication partners.