You get to your company’s yearly holiday party and you’re instantly assaulted by noise. You can feel the beat of the music, the hum of shouted conversations, and the click of glasses.
It makes you miserable.
You can’t hear anything in this noisy setting. The punch lines of jokes are missed, you can’t make out conversations and it’s all extremely disorienting. How can this be enjoyable for anyone? But as the evening goes on, you see that you’re the only one having difficulty.
This most likely sounds familiar for individuals who suffer from hearing loss. The office holiday party can present some unique stressors and as a result, what should be a jolly affair is nothing more than a dark, solitary event. But don’t worry! This little survival guide can help you make it through your next holiday party unharmed (and maybe even have some fun at the same time).
Why holiday parties can be stressful
Holiday parties can be a unique blend of fun and stress, (if you’re introverted this is particularly true) even if your hearing is healthy. If you struggle to hear when there is a lot of background noise, holiday parties come with distinct stressors.
Most notable is the noise. Think about it in this way: Holiday parties are your chance to loosen your tie and cut loose. As a result, they tend to be rather noisy events, with lots of people talking over each other all at the same time. Alcohol can definitely play a part. But even dry office parties can be a little on the unruly side.
For those who have hearing loss, this noise creates a certain amount of interference. Here are some reasons for this:
- There are so many people talking at the same time. It’s difficult to isolate one voice from many when you’re dealing with hearing loss.
- Talking, music, clinking dishes, laughing, all in the background. Your brain has a difficult time isolating voices from all of this information.
- Indoor gatherings tend to amplify the noise of crowds, meaning an indoor office party is even tougher on your ears when you are dealing with hearing loss.
This means that picking up and following conversations will be challenging for people with hearing loss. This may not sound like a very big deal at first.
So… What is the big deal?
The professional and networking aspect of things is where the big deal is. Office holiday parties, even though they are surficially social gatherings, a lot of networking occurs and connections are made. At any rate, attendance is often encouraged, so here we are. Here are a couple of things to think about:
- You can network: Holiday parties are a great opportunity to network with employees from other departments or even catch up with co-workers in your own department. People will still talk shop, even though it’s a social event it’s also a networking occasion. You can use this event to forge new connections. But it’s much harder when you have hearing loss and can’t understand what’s going on because of the overpowering noise.
- You can feel isolated: Who wants to be that person who’s always asking people to repeat what they said? This is one reason why hearing loss and isolation often go hand-in-hand. Asking friends and family to repeat themselves is one thing but co-workers are a different story. They might mistake your hearing loss for incompetence. Your reputation could be compromised. So, instead, you might simply avoid interactions. You’ll feel excluded and left behind, and that’s not a great feeling for anyone!
This can be even more problematic because you might not even realize you have hearing loss. The inability to hear well in noisy settings (such as restaurants or office parties) is often one of those first indications of hearing loss.
As a result, you might be surprised that you’re having difficulty following the conversation. And you might be even more surprised that you’re the only one.
Hearing loss causes
So how does this occur? How does hearing loss develop? Most commonly, it’s due to age or noise damage (or age and noise damage). Your ears will typically experience repeated damage from loud noise as you get older. The tiny hairs in your ear that detect vibrations (called stereocilia) become compromised.
These little hairs won’t heal and can’t be repaired. And the more stereocilia that die, the worse your hearing becomes. Your best bet will be to protect your hearing while you still have it because this kind of hearing loss is normally irreversible.
With this knowledge, there are ways you can make your holiday office party a bit less unpleasant!
Tips to make your office party more enjoyable
Your office party presents some considerable opportunities (and fun!), so you’d rather not skip out. So, when you’re in a noisy setting, how can you hear better? Well, here are some tips to make your office party go a little better:
- Find a quieter place to have those conversations: Try hanging out off to the side or around a corner. When the background noise gets really loud, sitting behind stationary objects can give you little pockets that are slightly quieter.
- Take listening breaks: Take a 15 minute quiet break each hour. This will help stop you from getting completely exhausted after having to listen really hard.
- Look at faces: Try to spend time with individuals who have really expressive faces and hand gestures when they speak. The more context clues you can get, the more you can fill in any gaps.
- Keep the alcohol drinking to a minimum: Communication is less successful as your thinking gets fuzzy. In other words, steer clear of the alcohol. It’ll make the whole process a lot smoother.
- Try to read lips: You will get better at this the more you practice. And you will probably never perfect this. But some gaps can be filled in using this technique.
Naturally, the best possible solution is also one of the simplest.: get fitted for a pair of hearing aids. These hearing aids can be customized to your hearing needs, and they can also be subtle. Even if you go with larger hearing aids it will still be better than asking people to repeat what they said.
Before the party, get your hearing examined
That’s why, if possible, it’s a smart idea to have your hearing checked before the office holiday party. Due to COVID, this might be your first holiday party in several years, and you don’t want to be surprised by your hearing issues!
