Let Me Tell You About... Plus a Question.

[Becky0216]

My show I just had lastnight!

It turned out alot better that I expected. Right now sales are at $340 with about 2 more order coming in. Not too great. But I got 3 people to agree to do catty shows for me by the end of this month for SAT. I bribed them with a free product, but I have tons of PC dollars, so I am really not worried. They have to have atleast $300 in sales. Then I got 2 kitchen shows and 1 possible recruit. I am pretty sure she is going to sign. She used to sell Lonaberger (sp?) so of course I talked her up about PC right away. She seems pretty excited. So all in all the show was awesome!!!
I do have one dilemma though.. There was a deaf woman there. This was my first experience with a deaf person and really felt ignorant around her. I don't sign and don't want to assume she can read lips well. She placed the last order lastnight and it was fairly dark (did it outside). I did not really offer her full service check out. I didn't know how to even go about and and was stupid to assume she wouldn't want a show because she is deaf. Well.... I am looking through my slips today and this woman has the box checked to host a show on the recipt as well as the drawing slip. I feel horrible. What an ass I am. Now I don't know what to do. I guess email her, but I am ashamed. If I do a show for her, how do I do it? Has anyone had experience with the deaf?
So there it is in a nutshell. Any help would be great.

 

[Liquid Sky]

I would call the host and talk with her about the best way to communicate with the deaf guest, if the host actually invited her. Now, if she was a friend of the invited guest, then I'd call the friend.

 

[Kathy's_Kitchen]

If she listed her phone number, she probably has the ability to receive relay phone calls or someone else in her household can do relay for her. Tell her the truth, you are fairly new (by looking at your profile, if it's just not updated, forgive me), it was dark, and you are inexperienced with hearing impaired persons . If she didn't give you a phone number, email her with the same thing. Most people are understanding of those of us that are inexperienced and she will appreciate your honesty.

If she still wants to do a show, just ask her if there will be people there that will need a translator and if she has a friend that would be willing to do it (possible recruit if she does a good job ). I think that if you treat this the same as any other booking opportunity, you will be fine. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[katie0128]

I agree with Kathy. Just be honest. If she wants to do the show, just tell her you haven't done a show with deaf people in the audience and you want to know if there is anything you should do differently from the show she attended. She has already seen you in action, so she knows what to expect from you.

My guess is that if she didn't have an interpreter with her, she is fairly adept at reading lips. When you do talk to her (in person or on the phone), slow your speech just a tiny bit (or more if you are a fast talker like me), but don't d-r-a-g o-u-t e-v-e-r-y w-o-r-d... that makes it sound like you think she is stupid and can't comprehend the words you are saying.

You know when you are talking with someone new, sometimes it is hard to understand them if they have an accent or speak very fast? It has been my experience with the deaf community that lip readers have the same "hurdle", especially with people who talk fast. I had a friend in college who was deaf. She could lip read very well, but had a hard time doing that when the professor was walking around and not always looking at her, so she had an interpreter in school. However, she did have to remind me periodically to slow down when she was reading my lips because I have a habit of talking so fast! But the biggest complaint she had about most people is that they wouldn't look at her when talking to her. Even if their face was turned so she could read their lips, it wasn't just lips she watched... it was eyes and facial expressions as well. When you meet her again in person, look at her during conversations - don't stare, but keep eye contact.

I'm really curious about this now, so let me know what happens!

 

[Chef Kearns]

I had a show a few years ago and the host was partially deaf (that's what she said, but she really couldn't hear anything). Half of her guests were hearing and the other half were deaf, some profoundly deaf. I just did my normal demo. They were very good at reading my lips. The host signed for her friends that didn't get everything I was saying. There was one lady there who kept correcting the host, "that's not what she said". And be ready for them to talk loudly to you. At first I thought they were upset because I had somehow offended them then I realized it is because they cannot hear themselves.

It was a good show. I am still in touch with the host who wanted to sign but didn't because PC doesn't have specialized stuff for them. I'm not sure what she wanted exactly, but we weren't offering it at the time.

 

[pampchefsarah]

We have a deaf woman in our weekly Ladies' Group, and the facilitator of the group hosted my first 'real' cooking show, at which Lisa (the deaf woman) was present. She can read lips and speaks pretty clearly (though, sometimes difficult to understand). Anyway, we're learning to look directly at her when speaking to her, not put our hands near our mouths when speaking, make sure our faces are turned towards her when speaking to the group, etc. She doesn't want to host a show, but honestly, if she did and all her guests were deaf, I'd be comfortable with it. Just have to remember the tricks I listed.

Don't let this be a roadblock for you, but use it as an opportunity to not only grow your business, but strength of character as well.

Sarah

p.s. I don't mean that last sentence to sound critical, but that you'll grow as a person through this experience.

 

[pampered.chris]

I had a friend in high school ( over a decade ago) that has a father who is deaf. We never slowed down our words to talk to him, but we did drop the little words that take up space. Like her mom would tell him "I go to store" vs "I am going to the store". Stuff like that. He was always a fun dad to be around, wanted to hang out w/ us and stuff, which of course when we got older was so NOT cool, but other than w/ him, I don't have a lot of experience dealing with the deaf.
I wonder what specialized items ChefKearns potential recruit was looking for. DId you ask her what exactly she was looking for and email PC to suggest it? I wonder if they would be able to accomodate?

 

[chefann]

I KNOW there are hearing-impaired consultants, because conference has interpreters and script books available for them. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head that would be an issue is TeleClasses.