Basic Etiquette
■ Wave or touch the person’s shoulder to draw the person’s attention.
■ Keep sentences short and use proper sentence construction. Rephrase, rather than repeat sentences that the person does not understand
■ Speak clearly so that the person can see and read your lips. Do not smoke, chew gum or let your hair cover your face whilst in conversation with a person experiencing hearing loss
■ Use facial expressions to correspond with the topic and mood of discussion. Keep eye contact and talk to the person rather than the interpreter
■ Be patient when either you or the person experiencing hearing loss, have difficulty in understanding or transferring a message
■ Do not change the subject or change your language in mid- sentence
■ Use basic signs to transfer your message
■ Indicate unforeseen happenings e.g. sudden loud music or dogs fighting
■ If you are standing with your back to a light source, such as a window, the glare may obscure your face and make it difficult for the person experiencing hearing loss to speech read