Microphone tip

This may apply to some hearing aids as well - I don't know

With your Cochlear Implant, freedom style you may have received an extension lapel microphone.

Here's a technique I have found to be quite handy, when out in the backyard - against cicadas, birds aeroplanes, wind and background noise.

Connect the lapel microphone to your speech processor - get your audiologist to show you if you don't know how.

Using a piece of velcro or sticky tape attach the microphone body to a chopstick on bamboo skewer, say 30cm long.

Now you can 'interview' your guests - this puts the microphone closer to them by 0.5m. I find the 'noise reduction' setting to be the most effective.

Also - too much wind? In the TV/video industry they use a fluffy microphone called a 'dead cat'. They don't exist in the size we need - 1cm x 2cm.

I have used a spectacle soft drawstring bag to good effect and will try a finger from a children's glove. This will fit better and be less cumbersome.

More tips as they come to hand...