One lesson I wish I had learned earlier:
There are times when it pays to act dumb and clueless.
If I was stuck in one of these sessions, I would sit in the least conspicuous part of the room, try to appear like I was following the presentation attentively, but really daydream about the upcoming weekend.
If, God forbid, I got called on, my ace in the hole might be the fact that I stutter occasionally. I usually have it pretty well under control, but on the rare occasions I get seriously flustered it can be a problem.
But hey, no props to the instructor for picking on a poor disabled guy.
I am retired now but my company started this garbage right before I left. The first meeting was just the managers. I walked into the conference room and there was a nicely dressed black man. I thought, “it figures”. He started his spiel and we all sat there looking at him. My boss was looking at me with increasing dread. After about thirty minutes of garbage, I stood up, flung my chair against the wall and informed everyone I’d had enough. I told them it was plain no one was going to address the needs of Celtic Americans and scooted out the door. We were supposed to have another session the next day but the dude didn’t show. Pity, I had my blue face paint on.
That’s a general good strategy. Blend in.