The Lombard effect

The Lombard effect indicates that if noise increases by 1 dB, the speech level also increases by 0.5 dB. In a noisy environment, speakers therefore increase the volume or pitch of their speech. The more people in a room, the higher the general noise level, for example in restaurants or call centers.

In simple terms, the Lombard effect describes the effect of noise on speech production: when a speaker is exposed to noise, he increases the volume of his speech so that he can still make himself understood by the other person in the noisy environment. However, the speaker usually increases not only the volume but also, in many cases, the tone of his or her voice, because high frequencies are more effective against background noise than low frequencies.

In the absence of room acoustics measurements, these ever-increasing noise levels lead to fatigue and lack of motivation.