Silent Morning Tea
Turn down the volume. Turn up the awareness.
A Silent Morning Tea gives people a small but powerful glimpse into some of the everyday communication barriers experienced by people who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
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What Is A Silent Morning Tea?
A Silent Morning Tea is a short team activity that invites people to experience communication differently and better understand why clear and inclusive communication matters. Staff use hearing protection they already have available, such as earplugs, headphones, or noise-cancelling earbuds, and then try to communicate without relying on hearing.
Why it matters
A Silent Morning Tea can help your team better understand how hard it can be to follow a conversation when sound is unclear or inaccessible and highlight how people may feel left out when communication is rushed, unclear, or not designed with everyone in mind.
How It Works
Ask participants to put on any hearing protection they already have available, such as earplugs, headphones, or noise-cancelling earbuds. Invite everyone to communicate without relying on hearing. People can use gestures, notes, facial expression, lipreading, body language, or other visual ways of communicating. After the activity, take a few minutes to reflect together.
Make It Your Own
Your team might try a gesture-only challenge where someone explains a simple message without speaking. You could do a silent ordering game, a write-only chat for a few minutes, or a lipreading activity where one person mouths a sentence and others guess what it is.
Register your interest today
Taking part is easy and designed to fit into a normal workday. In just 10 to 15 minutes, your team can share morning tea, try communicating without relying on hearing, and reflect on what helps people feel included.
It is a practical way to support Hearing Awareness Month while encouraging your workplace to think differently about communication, accessibility, and belonging.
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Thank you for registering interest. A member of our staff will be in touch shortly.
Add a fundraising boost
Your team can turn the event into a small fundraising moment in support of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Foundation. This could be as simple as making a team donation, inviting koha contributions at morning tea, or matching staff donations as a workplace.
Adding a fundraising element is a great way to pair awareness with action and help support programmes that promote hearing health, inclusion, accessibility, and early support across Aotearoa.
Even a modest contribution can help turn a team activity into wider community impact.
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Thank you for participating in the Silent Morning Tea and for your generous donation.
How Our Programmes Connect
Workplace Hearing Awareness
We help organisations create hearing-aware and accessible workplaces through education, communication access initiatives, and accreditation.
NZSL
Recognise and support NZSL to help create a more inclusive society where Deaf and hard of hearing people can access information, services, and opportunities without unnecessary barriers.
Resources For Employers
Our employer resources provide practical guidance to help organisations build more inclusive and accessible workplaces.
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