How Acoustics Quietly Decide Who Gets Heard and Who Gets Talked Over

Nobody blames the room for how badly a meeting went. People usually blame the loud person who dominated the conversation or the quiet person who “just doesn’t speak up.” It’s unusual for people to consider that the room has already decided who is going to speak up before the meeting even started.

Some people are not equally affected by poor acoustics. Rooms with hard floors and ceilings will have sound bouncing around the space. Quieter voices will be drowned out in these types of rooms, which makes it even harder for naturally softer speakers to feel confident in using their voice. Even louder speakers will be able to cut through the poor acoustics of the room, so they will feel no problem with poor acoustics themselves.

This is why the same individual may exhibit assertiveness in one meeting space but near silence in another. It is not a change in the individual’s personality but rather a change in the level of assertiveness allowed in each setting. For Meeting Rooms Chester, visit https://rowtonhallhotel.co.uk/conference-venues-chester/meeting-rooms/

Soft furnishings and carpets on the floor will help to absorb some of the sound within the room. Also, lower ceiling heights for these rooms will work to level out the sound absorbed by the furnishings. Accessibility in such rooms is often not seen as particularly glamorous – people do not typically notice the good acoustics of a room unless that room is poorly constructed in another manner.

Beyond the distractions caused by bad acoustics is the distribution of power within the meeting itself. Power is often distributed based on the individual’s volume of voice rather than their content.