The Beyoncé mute challenge is a phenomenon that started during Beyoncés Renaissance World Tour. During her performance of the song "Energy," Beyoncé sings the line "Look around, everybody on mute," and the crowd actually goes silent. This moment in the concert has been nicknamed the "mute" challenge, as the crowd challenges each other to simmer down before revving back up again. Videos of the moment shared online show the transformation, as animated stadiums full of people in glittering costumes become suddenly still. The challenge has become competitive as different cities compete to be the quietest, and people hype up their own stadiums performances on social media. Beyoncé has weighed in, grading the stadiums’ performances with expressions.
The mute challenge has also been adopted by teachers as a technique to calm their students and get them to focus. A call and response is a technique teachers use to quiet their students and get them to focus. The teacher says a predetermined word, which signals the class to give a certain response. The mute challenge has morphed into a tool for teachers to get their classroom’s attention, all while having fun and sharing a bit of their authentic selves with their students. The challenge has become popular among teachers because it is a fun way to get students to be quiet and pay attention.
