Asking questions

An interesting question was asked at an event I was giving a short talk on getting involved with the community.

They mentioned that in a past PyLadies Dublin event they attended, there was a female speaker, with Q&A afterwards, a male asked questions. Would that make it a safe space for people if there males asking questions?

I, personally, would be fine to open the floor to folks asking questions. I thought about it a bit, and would it be better if I asked the speaker beforehand if they are ok with questions, or even find a way to help them prep? Or maybe I should learn to moderate? I raise my hand that I’m not great at chairing, maybe I am not eloquent enough to do it. And now as I type this, is there something I can take up to help me build up confidence to moderate things like this? I am trying hard not to spiral and overthink this, anxiety is fickle thing, it just jumps out of nowhere and give self doubt.

How do I make it a safe environment? Do I suggest for people to help prompt or stop conversations?

I mentioned maybe there will be no Q&As after a talk, and have people form a group and deep dive more into that subject, and ask questions, and maybe do a workshop/demo on what was talked about. Other folks can carry one with their own activities that evening.

Oh, I nearly forgot, this is an important slide of the evening, and if anyone know of other diversity-friendly groups, please introduce them to us, we would love to connect.

Here’s the most important slide from my short talk at @irelandggd, get involved and help the community organisers. #TIA pic.twitter.com/URXm3BD8oH

— whykay (@whykay) October 20, 2016