It’s a loud world. And by age 65, nearly half of the population will pay for it with some degree of hearing loss. Unlike a Saturday Night Live “News For the Hard of Hearing” skit, hearing loss isn’t amusing. It can be frustrating for the speaker and isolating and embarrassing for the listener.

“Some withdraw, some feel hostile, and some people experience a grieving process. It’s a change you did not initiate and that’s tough,” says Bethany Milner, M.S. ’94, a lecturer in URI’s Department of Communicative Disorders.

Conversation can become a puzzle to solve. “People describe it being like Swiss cheese—there are holes,” says Milner. “So people with hearing loss are always looking for supplemental information. We have a term for it: bluffing. A nod and a smile, for instance, might be the path of least resistance—but that strategy isn’t good for either conversational partner. It’s not getting the job done.”

Here’s how the fully functional speaker can help:

1. Speak face-to-face: All of us speech-read—scan the speaker’s facial expressions, gestures and body language for more information about the words being spoken. Give the listener that boost of visual data. Optimum conversational distance: 6 feet.

2. Eliminate background noise: CNN, the swirl of party chatter, the clink and rattle of cutlery and glasses—these things are the enemy. Turn off TV and radio, and choose the restaurant table in a corner with good lighting.

3. No shouting: Don’t amp up the volume too high or slow your words to a crawl—you risk causing insult, and even discomfort if your listener has a hearing aid. Speak slightly slower and slightly louder, allowing the conversation to flow in a natural way.

4. Vary your vocab: If the listener doesn’t catch something after two tries, repeat it using different words. Sometimes it’s the combination of particular sounds with the pitch and intonation of your voice that creates the “holes.”

5. Keep your sense of humor: People often mistake hearing loss for indifference, or assume the person they’re addressing is ignoring them. These communication snafus—and their attendant hurt feelings—are more common than people realize. A reframe may be in order: “They just didn’t hear you,” Milner says. “It’s worth thinking about.”