[RainPetal]

Hello,

Does any others with SA get asked to repeat something you've said? When I talk to people they always want me to repeat it again because they don't hear me very well. It happens all the time. Spme people want me to repeat myself more than once. Whenever I talk to people I know they'll want me to say it again.

Repeating myself uses a lot of energy and I lose a bit of confidence. When people say "Huh!" "What?" or "Eh?" in really loud voices, it makes me feel quite nervous. When I'm still not heard people look fed up and say "I still didn't get that!" and they seem aggressive in their tones. It has an effect on me because I tend to sound angry or upset when I repeat something again and again.

I've been told my voice is quiet, muffled, I talk too fast, my voice is slow. Sometimes I get the feeling they're deliberately asking me to repeat myself as it feels like intimidation/bullying. I've not seen anyone here mention this before, well someone probably has but I missed it. I don't always get upset when repeating myself but there are times when its really uncomfortable. Do you get asked to repeat yourself?

 

[James of Maine]

Yes--- everything you described is almost exactly the experience I've had.
:sigh

 

[darkangel]

Today actually, a co-worker and me talked more than usual, and he said, "Sorry?" about 7 times over the shift. I didn't think I talked so soft, but I feel almost incapable of speaking any louder than I do.

My manager talks really soft too, and I'm the one askng him to repeat himelf, but 2 days ago he made me repeat myself.. lol

 

[Hannah]

Yes, I tend to mumble alot, but to me it sounds very clear.

As soon as I found out about SA, I started talking to my bf about how I feel in public. He said that he did notice that the moment I'm uncomfortable I begin to talk so low that he can't hear me. The odd thing is, to me I don't notice that there's that big of a difference.

 

[missnat84]

People are always asking me to repeat myself and it annoys me-especially if there is a difficult word in the sentence that i dont want to say again(because i stutter).

 

[glittergaze]

Yes--- everything you described is almost exactly the experience I've had.
:sigh

:dito I think I'm getting better about it though. It doesn't happen as often as it used to.

 

[James of Maine]

What I especially dislike is people in authority (teachers, bosses, etc---especially those who are super-extraverts who fancy themselves comedians) who love to do the I-CAN'T-HEAR-YOU! drill-sergeant schtick, either for their own amusement or for that of others.

 

[malcman]

Yeah same here.

 

[nothing to fear]

People ask me to repeat myself a lot...But I understand why since when I'm nervous I talk too fast, pronounce my words incorrectly or in an odd way, and phrase my sentance weirdly.

 

[Melusine]

I have a naturally soft spoken voice so i get told to repeat alot and it makes me feel like crap.

 

[Dusty]

What I especially dislike is people in authority (teachers, bosses, etc---especially those who are super-extraverts who fancy themselves comedians) who love to do the I-CAN'T-HEAR-YOU! drill-sergeant schtick, either for their own amusement or for that of others.

Yes I hate that.

 

[Goran]

most of the time. often i'm just one of those people who feels too lazy to talk. It takes a lot of effort when you can't bother. Also i often have a sore throat so it's a little uncomfortable.
But some people compulsively ask for repetition (like members of your family) for various reasons. The funniest thing is when you MAKE SURE YOU ARE CLEAR the first time, and they still say "What?". :lol

 

[ghostgurl]

Yes, I get that a lot. :hide

 

[Caedmon]

I used to. Occasionally I still do. You are probably speaking quietly and not articulating with a lot of force, because doing so is something that you aren't used to doing and because your own voice always sounds much louder (perceptually) to you than it really is. Sometimes when people are anxious this will also increase stuttering moments, hesitations, dysarthric movements, word-finding problems, and speech rate and so on, and that just compounds the problem.

It's normal among SAers and it's very fixable if you wish for it to change. Practice slow-talk. Almost everyone on this board could benefit from this. Unfortunately there isn't a good guide out there that I am aware of covering the topic of slow-talk and its application to anxiety. I'm in the slow but steady process of just writing one myself, because I'm fed up trying to find one. (The Social Anxiety Institute offers CBT tapes and one of them covers slow-talk, but at over $300 it's hardly worth it (and the tapes aren't that good as sources of CBT anyway, when a $25 book gets you just as much).) It may also get much better by itself if you treat the underlying anxiety well enough. I find that for me, speaking confidence and general self-confidence both help to support or tear down each other.

 

[Amelia]

Does any others with SA get asked to repeat something you've said?

:yes All the time.

When I talk to people they always want me to repeat it again because they don't hear me very well. It happens all the time....Repeating myself uses a lot of energy and I lose a bit of confidence....I've been told my voice is quiet, muffled...

:dito Me too. It's very frustrating. Makes talking seem too much of an effort.

 

[IMME]

Yes, not always but a lot! I alway feel like I'm speaking very clear and don't understand why they didn't understand me. They say I need to speak up, to slow down or that I mumble so I try to speak up/talk lauder and then they complain about that. :get I had a speech impediment as a child so I always blame it on that, but like I said I never really feel there is anything wrong with how I talk.

 

[man w/ no name]

Yeah, people often don't know what the hell I'm saying, it can be extremely frustrating sometimes. I speak in a generally quiet tone, so people are always asking me to repeat. I usually end up saying, "Forget it," however, they more than likely don't hear that either.

 

[BeautifullyDemented]

I'm actually a semi-loud person (I get it from my father who yells, not talks), but I can be very very quiet when I don't know someone.
I hate when people go 'what?', I usually refuse to repeat myself. Stubborn, I know.
I'm much more soft spoken around strangers, I blame it on my stuttering when I was younger. I had horrible stuttering problems, but it was only around strangers. Now, it only happens once in a blue moon, but I do talk a lot softer.

 

[ShyViolet]

What I especially dislike is people in authority (teachers, bosses, etc---especially those who are super-extraverts who fancy themselves comedians) who love to do the I-CAN'T-HEAR-YOU! drill-sergeant schtick, either for their own amusement or for that of others.

Teachers sometimes did that to me in school. It was really upsetting.

 

[forbsey]

I can never get it right!. I either talk too low or too loud, too slow or too fast :lol