How long did it take you to prepare for talks or parts in the KM school?

by OneDayillBeFree 38 Replies latest jw experiences

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  OneDayillBeFree

  Several years ago, whenever I got a talk slip I would get really nervous but accept it and work on it almost immediately.

  Of course that was way back when I still believed it all.

  Now they gave me a #3 talk out of the blue about a month ago and I had forgotten all about it till the meeting night. I really thought about not showing up at all but at the last minute, I decided to go.

  So when I got there the meeting had already started and so I just stayed in the back looked at the info, found 2 scriptures and then without any notes I went up and gave the stupid talk!

  It was the funniest thing as everyone was telling me after how they loved it and said they could tell that I was very well prepared. Of course part of what they were doing was love bombing me since I'm not regular anymore but I just said thanks and walked out after the meeting.

  So that got me wondering, how long did it take you to prepare for the meetings after knowing a little or all of TTATT, (that is if you stayed inside because you had to)
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  trujw

  One what would be a really good talk is to quote something from an old WT from lets say the 1920's now that would be awesome and really open an eye or four or forty
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  blondie

  I was a school overseer's dream. I sometimes substituted every week. My problem was finding a "householder" that didn't need a script. Like you told the people at the door what they are supposed tos ay.
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  label licker

  On the last night we were there, fifteen minutes before we leave the house my husband is on the internet looking up information on the sabbath according to 119 ministries, Jim Staley ect,,, put his talk together and gave it on the night of the CO visit in front of the CO and congregation. Walked off the stage and handed his hall key over to an elder and told him to find someone else for the literature counter. Brothers and sisters were coming up to him saying how he did an awesome job and yet the material info came from other religous sources.
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  Lore

  Not giving a crap really does a lot to reduce stress.

  And if you're not nervous it's incredibly easy to just look up a random article related to the subject of your talk and paraphrase it for a few minutes.
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  konceptual99

  I spend as little time as poss and have done for years. Regularly do items on the same day. Did a SM Q&A off the cuff once when I forgot I had it and it was announced during the announcements. I had 10 mins to check it through in my KM.

  I have done a number of public talks with just a few hours prep.

  Do I feel guilty? No. Even before I saw TTATT I thought that most people could, if pushed on the doors, speak extemporaneously about most subjects. Most main points were as obvious as anything. Even public talks offer little depth, especially when on non prophecy based subjects. Anything about Jesus highlights love. Never fretted about it. Hopefully I will have less and less talks soon...

  Ive always been commended for my talks het never poured over them for days and days. Most people could not tell you what was in the meeting 10 mins after it is over let alone worry about the detail of what you say.
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  trujw

  My father before he passed (God Rest his sole) said the watchtowers are nothing more than rehash after rehash. Smart man I am glad I followed in his footsteps. A four year child could give a part. Ask me to read a stupid outline at the meeting no problem with my mind closed LOL.
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  WTWizard

  The dingbat that dragged me into the cancer expected me to waste 6 hours for a 5-minute talk, most of that rehearsing. I realize that practice doesn't make perfect, especially when arbitrary standards are used against me (at least, the ones that were universally strict would be that way with everyone, and I could accommodate that). But, my notes consisted of a single opening line, indication of where in the LIE-ble the reading is to be, a line where a break was indicated, and a line for a conclusion. When doing the whole LIE-ble reading without a break, a line at the beginning and a line for the conclusion was enough. Usually it would take around 10 minutes to come up with these lines, and that's all they got for preparation time once I got into it.

  Funny thing, they never were able to tell that I didn't waste the full 6 hours rehearsing.
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  ambersun

  It all depended on who they gave me as a householder. If only we could choose our own it would have made life much simpler! Occasionaly I was put with an experienced sister and it was a joy as I could just write a talk, (which usually took me about half an hour), give her the outline and get up on the platform and do it. No problems.

  However, I was usually given the new sisters or ones who were like timid little mice who hardly opened their mouths at the meetings and were quite often absolutely terrified. I was constantly having to re-write my talks in order to accommodate them so they had as little as possible to say. I had them dry up on me on more than one occasion just nodding or uttering monosyllabic replies so I had to improvise like mad.

  I really envied the brothers who could just write their assignments then get up and give their talks without having to do those silly little plays with someone who could hardly speak.
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  finally awake

  It always took me ages to write the farces that passed for the parts sisters were expected to give. I could write an essay in 10 or 15 minutes, but trying to turn it into believable dialog and come up with a non-ridiculous setting took hours.