Systems and methods may provide for determining a usage configuration of a wearable device and setting an activation state of an air conduction speaker of the wearable device based at least in part on the usage configuration. Additionally, an activation state of a tissue conduction speaker of the wearable device may be set based at least in part on the usage configuration. In one example, the usage configuration is determined based on a set of status signals that indicate one or more of a physical position, a physical activity, a current activation state, an interpersonal proximity state or a manual user request associated with one or more of the air conduction speaker or the tissue conduction speaker.