If you were attending a workshop,

[cathmom]

and the person running it was wasting time on unnecessary things, would you stand up in front of the whole room and ask to skip that announced activity and move on?

[Mrs Mungo]

I think if a person wants to be in charge, they should volunteer in the first place. If you don't want to be in charge, you defer to the person who is.

[eternalknot]

Goodness, no!

 

If I felt time was wasted on unnecessary things, I'd excuse myself -- either altogether, or just for a few minutes until the more "relevant" part was finally gotten around to. If it were a small gathering of friends planning a party or something, I might try to move things along in a more abrupt manner, but not amongst a group gathered for a workshop.

[cathmom]

This is a professional workshop you are attending.

[Kates]

No, I wouldn't - for three reasons.

 

1) If you're not interested in what's going on (or it's not relevant), just excuse yourself and leave the room. That's a clear (but silent) message to the speaker that they're not holding your attention.

 

2) Even if what's being spoken on isn't relevant to you, it might be to someone else. Some people need more explanation than others, and the speaker may be trying to do that.

 

3) Honestly, it's pretty rude. The speaker may be having an off-day for some reason, but that's not an excuse to embarrass them in front of a group of people. We all have off-days, and sometimes it happens in public.

 

If you don't feel that something's relevant, I would suggest you raise your hand and ask a question to get the speaker back on track. I've been a workshop speaker, and it can be a bit difficult to stay on track when it's your 15th workshop in 4 weeks. It can also be a bit intimidating when it's your 1st workshop in a very long time - or 1st ever.

 

My recommendation? Show the speaker some grace and try to quietly nudge them back toward the topic. Imagine yourself up there, and treat that person as if you were in their place.

[cathmom]

OK, I was asking because I recently attended a pre-conference, day-long workshop for language teachers about a program that I have been wanting to learn more about for several years. I was disappointed that we spent a lot of time doing things that didn't really advance my knowledge of the program. In the middle of the afternoon, time was running short and the speaker asked us to get into groups to share cultural misunderstandings we had experienced. I'm sorry, but I didn't spend $100 to share things that happened in Germany 15 years ago with total strangers. I think all of my group felt this way - the one example she gave the entire group would have sufficed.

 

Anyway, I was telling someone about this, and she said that I should have stood up and asked to move on to something more relevant. :confused:

 

I would never in a million years have done something like that, and I wondered if it was just me.

[NanceXToo]

No, never! That would be rude (and quite embarassing)! I'd either just stay and listen and get out of it what I could, or alternatively I MIGHT slip out and leave early... but to interrupt with a comment like that? Heck, no!

 

ETA: In your case I might write a letter or email to whoever was in charge of that event explaining my feelings, afterward.

[cathmom]

ETA: In your case I might write a letter or email to whoever was in charge of that event explaining my feelings, afterward.

 

I did write these comments on my evaluation form.

[jld]

Yes. I went to the LLL convention in France in 1999, and attended a two hour session on being a mom at home. The speaker was just talking about how to save enough money to be able to do it. So, after about 45 minutes, I stood up and said, "Excuse me, but I thought we would be talking about other things involved in being a stay at home mom. I think we all probably have a lot to share about this, so could we break up into small groups and talk about it?"

 

My goodness, that previously dead room lit up. The leader looked surprised, but agreed to break up into two groups, and the ones who wanted to continue with the talk stayed with her, and a much livelier group moved to the other half of the room. People started talking and laughing, and really seemed to enjoy the rest of the time. A few people thanked me, and the leader was still talking to me a year later, so I guess it worked out okay. :)

[cathmom]

Yes. I went to the LLL convention in France in 1999, and attended a two hour session on being a mom at home. The speaker was just talking about how to save enough money to be able to do it. So, after about 45 minutes, I stood up and said, "Excuse me, but I thought we would be talking about other things involved in being a stay at home mom. I think we all probably have a lot to share about this, so could we break up into small groups and talk about it?"

 

My goodness, that previously dead room lit up. The leader looked surprised, but agreed to break up into two groups, and the ones who wanted to continue with the talk stayed with her, and a much livelier group moved to the other half of the room. People started talking and laughing, and really seemed to enjoy the rest of the time. A few people thanked me, and the leader was still talking to me a year later, so I guess it worked out okay. :)

 

Now that I can see.

[hillfarm]

In many of my fantasies, yes! In reality, no, of course not:glare:. However, I would seriously consider zapping the speaker/presenter an email or note gently expressing that you would have preferred to have focused more on the meat of the subject instead of so much preliminary material. But keep in mind that she may well have received another email from someone who said the material presented was going a little too quickly for their needs and could she slow it down and provide more examples.

[Heatherwith4]

No way! I am way too shy for that, even if I thought it was the polite thing to do. I might slip out, if I could do so without making a scene.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

In many of my fantasies, yes! In reality, no, of course not:glare:.

 

:iagree:

 

Every single time we're asked to go around the room and say our names, where we're from, et c. I just go mad.

 

I guess, if participant names were actually relevant to the subject at hand, i woulnd't mind but honestly, Fun with Participant Names is not a workshop I'm signing up for.

 

Also ranking up there as a dumb waste of workshop time is the Write A - Z Vertically on Your Paper and Now Write a Word for Each Letter that will Describe What You've Learned Today. I'm pretty sure it wasn't relevant when I was six and it hasn't gotten any relevanter since then.

[cathmom]

:iagree:

 

Every single time we're asked to go around the room and say our names, where we're from, et c. I just go mad.

 

I guess, if participant names were actually relevant to the subject at hand, i woulnd't mind but honestly, Fun with Participant Names is not a workshop I'm signing up for.

 

Also ranking up there as a dumb waste of workshop time is the Write A - Z Vertically on Your Paper and Now Write a Word for Each Letter that will Describe What You've Learned Today. I'm pretty sure it wasn't relevant when I was six and it hasn't gotten any relevanter since then.

 

We did the "introduce yourself and tell two truths and one lie about yourself so we can guess the lie" routine. And before the afternoon break, we were supposed to write something we had learned on one sticky note and something we still wanted to learn on another and post them as we went out the door. I had a lot of trouble thinking of something I had learned, and she did not answer my "what I still wanted to learn."

[helena]

No way! I feel embarrassed just thinking about it!

 

Now my mom on the other hand is THE WORST. I've been going to Montessori conferences with her since I was young. She'll sneak into classes because she's "already heard it all", and she can become a bit unruly and giggly in boring classes.