Is There A Better Way To Do This?

Our Ward meets in the chapel at our stake center during adult Sunday school. A lot of room with a lot of people for class. And yes we pass around a wireless microphone. Getting it set up, along with a wireless mic for the teacher take a few minutes to set up. And now with the new 2nd hour schedule. Techs like me have less time to set up.

I am all for the creation of a unit that plugs into the chapel sound system. A unit that members can access by phone on an app. Then they can participate by speaking on their phone! Rather than wait for the wireless microphone to be passed to them.

Is there another way or an alternative to passing around a wireless microphone in a large class?

I imagine there will be some logistical tweaks needed for various units throughout the world. Raise your concerns to your Bishop/Branch President for guidance.

The immediate solution that comes to my mind, for large, well attended classes:
Split large classes into multiple smaller classes that meet in different rooms. This will help consolidate the group into a closer space and will likely eliminate the need for a microphone. (Passing a microphone around to each person that speaks [in a large group setting] is going to waste a lot of already limited time.)

If a microphone is deemed necessary for one of the classes, sitting in a close circle and passing the mic across the circle is probably going to be the most efficient layout. (Look for a mic/speaker combo-- not a blaring megaphone, but something handheld that amplies the voice to a comfortable volume in the smaller room)

Another option: Adjust meeting times. My stake advised that Sacrament Meetings will be ending (talks, testimonies, etc.), no later than 50 minutes into the meeting. This allows 10 minutes for the closing song & prayer with the balance of any remaining time for moving to the next class.

As always, counsel with your leaders. Good luck Brother.

You might want to see if one of the larger rooms is large enough for Sunday School. Perhaps the Relief Society room. A smaller room would speed passing of the mic.

You could leave the wireless receiver plugged in all the time so all you need to do is get out the microphone and turn it on. If you're in a place where the receiver might get stolen, maybe the FM group can permanently mount it. Maybe it goes in the audio rack and there's an antenna in the chapel?

Something else to consider is that many people may find it irritating to have amplified sound for the class. I'm happy you can even get people to use a microphone. I really want a nice, portable unit broadcasts to the audio assistance headsets (and telecoil loop in the chapel). Even when we hold class in the Relief Society or other rooms, some people can't hear and those who can hear don't want the volume on the room speakers loud enough for those with hearing challenges to be able to hear. It's doable. We have a transmitter I could use. There are people in need in our stake who would benefit,. I just don't have the time to put it all together and make a solution workable for the units in our stake that need it.

You have an interesting idea about people using phones to speak. That makes me think of having a box that can receive multiple wireless (instructor mic, one or two audience mics), as well as maybe Bluetooth phone connections. I don't know if Bluetooth range is sufficient to make it work. Or maybe join phone mics via the wifi network? People would have to install an app and connect to the device. I'm trying to think of how to make it simple so you don't need to get some kind of host phone, tablet, or laptop involved. The device would broadcast to one of the headset channels and also have mic and line outputs so you could connect it to the sound system. The box would need some audio adjustments and probably some kind of automatic gain control for all the different phone mics.

BrentHunter wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2026 7:24 pm And yes we pass around a wireless microphone. Getting it set up, along with a wireless mic for the teacher take a few minutes to set up.

You might think about the wireless mic I mentioned in this post. It's simple enough for non-techs to set up and much faster then unpacking a case and finding power.