I agree that idle talk and jocularity have no place during a degree. However I can bring up an instance where hushed whispering was appropriate.
There were a group of three of us who went through the degrees in the same relative time period. For our EA and FC degrees mine was done on the 3rd week of the month and theirs were done on the 4th week. For our raisings, I had a work conflict so my MM degree was put off for a month, so they were raised before me. I was able to attend the Extra Meetings for their EA and FC degrees and they were able to attend the Extra Meeting for my MM degree.
When we went to the meetings where the degree we had just been through was conferred, we had a PM sit with us and offer explanations of what was happening, why and answered any questions we had. All of this was done in a VERY quiet voice, did not interfere with the Ritual and was done at the direction of the WM.
As with most things there are hard and fast rules - i.e., if you are not part of the Ritual, keep your moth shut, but there are always exceptions which may be appropriate and beneficial.