The last time I needed to attend a meeting while in the lounge, I couldn’t find an empty phone booth, so I responded via in-meeting chat (i.e., typing) instead of talking.

I have a much easier time tuning out people who are talking at a conversational volume than I do tuning out those same voices at that same volume coming from a speaker. That sounds ridiculous, but I think it has something to do with the way that the brain processes auditory information.