| I suffer the same. I have suspected, for years, that in my case it's several factors. 1. I'm a small person, and in America, I've observed, or think I have, that there's a daddy culture here and a lot of people respect size more than content. This may simply be frustrated cynicism though. But I sincerely think I might be a dumb looking person too. 2. I've a weak voice and it doesn't carry well. 3. To some degree, it is a choice of company. That might be difficult to consider in some cases, eg the wife, but I don't bother with people who don't listen, unless it's necessary. I try to be very accommodating to others when they communicate. 4. To some extent it's not you. Low attention spans are becoming more and more pervasive. Social elegance isn't much in style right now. Also, with a culture of sensory or information overload, many people are generally aloof. 5. Try to eliminate discourse particles. Unfortunately this might compound the problem in circles where "like" is used as punctuation, adjectives, verbs, nouns and pretty much as a monosyllable language consisting of tonal variations. But at least you can keep your dignity while they squeak back and forth with their one word. 6. Timing. As a product of cold, callous patience. Edit: Another possibly worthy consideration is gestures, primarily but not exclusively, I imagine, with the hands. Think magician, or conductor. Many people are becoming more visual. Some may even require certain visual stimulation to function. And maybe there could be some strange subconscious threat factors in the background, promoting increased alertness. And if that fails, you'll be well warmed up in the event you must resort to violence. |