[NFB-Talk] question about running a meeting where people raise their hands when they want to talk?

[Steve Jacobson]

Perhaps I missed other answers, but I have not seen any.  One approach that has worked for me is to make a sort of joke out of it by saying that obviously I won't see your hand if you raise it.  If you are speaking with an audience with which you are somewhat familiar, ask them instead to call out their name and you will recognize them.  The tendency in this kind of situation is for people to call out your name, but knowing their name may affect who you recognize.  Then, periodically leave a pause and ask if there are questions to make it easier for the audience since this will be a new approach for them.

Obviously, you could have an assistant communicate with you if there are hands raised.  However, this removes the opportunity for you to make decisions if multiple people are asking questions.  If the audience is completely unfamiliar, then knowing who is asking a question isn't as important and working with an assistant might be viable.  However, people are usually pretty willing to change their patterns when they understand the situation.

I hope this is helpful.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson
From: NFB-Talk <nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Star Gazer via nFB-Talk
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2023 11:18 AM
To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List' <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Star Gazer <pickrellrebecca at gmail.com>
Subject: [NFB-Talk] question about running a meeting where people raise their hands when they want to talk?

Hi guys. I may be doing this for a large group of adults where the protocol is to raise hands when they want to speak. This is an in person meeting. What other approaches are used so that I can know when someone has their hand up?
I'm totally blind if that matters.
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