"Contagious Humming" to Silence a Room

Often when running meetups you’ll have several lively conversations going at the same time. This is a great problem to have, but it can make it difficult to get everyone’s attention for announcements.Try using “Contagious Humming” when you need to silence a crowd:Move to a prominent place in the room and use body language that says you have something to say. Start humming at a low and constant tone.Recruit a few compatriots to join in. If the crowd has enough people familiar with the technique, generally about 20% of the room, looking expectantly at a few friends is often enough. Wait for the hum to spread through the room. This can take a while, 30 seconds to a minute, just be patient. There will often be one or two holdouts, but they’ll usually finish their statement within about three to five seconds of noticing everyone else is humming. If not, call their name or have someone tap them on their shoulder to get their attention. Don’t try to start an announcement by talking over a holdout; in my experience that breaks the spell.Let the hum fill the room for a few seconds after the last person stops talking. Then stop, take a breath, and thank the crowd. If you’ve done this right, they’ll see you preparing to speak and stop humming. Say what you came to say.Introducing this technique to a new group is often pretty easy. It helps to get buy-in from some deputies. Explain to a few social-looking people that you want them to call the room to order by getting everyone to hum, aside, then have them circulate through the room to pass the word while you and your starting conversational circle all hum. It’ll take a little longer but, in my experience, people catch on surprisingly quickly.This can also be used to reset everyone’s volume. Meetups are often held in rooms with bare walls or floors, causing a subtle echo. Often people instinctually raise their voice to offset this, without even realizing they’re doing it, causing the other conversations in the room to get louder