Use a Secret Sound to Get Someone’s Attention

Sometime early on in our relationship, I made this psst, psst, psst sound to my wife to get her attention.  I think we were in a department store or something and I didn’t want to embarrass her by yelling out her name.  Amazingly, though we had never done it before, she whipped her head around and acknowledged me.  Since that day, psst, psst, psst has been our secret sound ever since.

Having a secret sound that you and your friends or family know can be very helpful when you need to get their attention without yelling out, “Hey you!”

By using a secret sound you train yourself and your partner to respond to a certain sound so that when it is needed, you can use it to get someone’s attention, find someone that is lost, or even getting a child back on task.

It has come in handy when we get separated in the general location of each other.  By just sending up a psst, psst, psst at a slightly increased volume, your partner can either respond with “We’re right here” or send the sound back to acknowledge receipt.

Works Well with Children

Our son is about 2 1/2 years old now and he recognizes our secret sound.  Recently we were in a supermarket when I realized that I had lost my wife and kids; as we were in different aisles.  I knew they were there somewhere, but she must have been walking out of an aisle as I was walking in because I just could not find them.

Remembering myself, I stopped, sent out a psst, psst, psst and the funniest thing happened.  Instead of the usual reply coming from my wife that would allow me to hone in on her position like our own personal GPS satellite, I heard the voice of my two year old, “YES!” Praise God, he’s trained now too.  He isn’t using it himself yet, but he recognizes it enough to know that I want his attention.

Its great too.  When he is playing among a group of kids, doing the dangerous things that groups of kids tend to do, my caution stands out from the other parent’s “Be careful” because I know for sure I have his attention first.  Just a little, psst, psst, psst and he whips his head towards me. I caution him and ask, “Do you understand?” He acknowledges that its registered with him and he returns to his acrobatic activities.

When it comes to children (and most people, I suspect), they don’t tend to hear the first words that you say.  So by the time you’re going into the “Do you understand?” review, they’re nodding their head yes, but they’re most likely lost.  If you get their attention first, pause, and then start in on what you want to say, you can be sure that your message is not lost in transmission.

How to Establish Your Own Secret Sound

Obviously we cannot all share the psst, psst, psst. Then again, it isn’t copyrighted and we’re in a remote location, so go at it!  If you don’t want to use our secret sound, here are a few tips to coming up with your own:

1. Keep it simple.

2. Make sure you let the people that you’re going to use it with know what you’re doing.  Otherwise they might just think you’re spitting in their face and you won’t need a secret sound anymore.

3. Use it.  Its probably not going to register the first couple of times that you try it, but as it goes with most new habits you got to give it a go for a while before it catches on.  We’ve been doing it for nearly five years now and it is second nature.

Do you use a secret sound with your loved ones?  Tell us about it in the comments.  Otherwise, give it a try and tell us how it went.

Photo By GotPlaid? | Flickr

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