I recently stumbled upon this article which totally resonates with me: A Note From Your Colleagues With Hearing Loss: Just Use a Microphone Already
It is awkward enough to have to ask a speaker to use a microphone in front of the full audience. It is even more awkward if they refuse to do so. You’d be surprise how often “No, thanks, I am good” is the answer.
However, my low light so far was: ‘No, I don’t like to use the microphone, I don’t want to feel tied to the podium and prefer to walk around.’ It seems to be hard to assess the priorities of ‘convenience for me’ and ‘necessity for someone else’.