If You Were A Bro(tm) Did You Enjoy The Prestiage Of Giving A Talk? Do You Miss It?

by LoisLane looking for Superman 41 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  losingit

  Well, even though I was a sister, I enjoyed my talks. I knew I could blow away all of the eldwrs and ministerial servants out of the water. But hey! Im just a girl, right?

  I did enjoy hearing a good speaker, and it hd been quite a while since that had happened. Iguess that's one of the thbgs I miss about the meetings. The last one I heard that was good, I remember, it was about creation. The brother began with a beautiful examnation of our hands, how wonderfully they arr made. The tone, so calm and serene, and how knowledgeable he was struck me. This was a talk given in June of this year by one of the elders that was in my JC. I still appreciate the talk, though. Haha!
• 

  LoisLane looking for Superman

  losingit ... That's funny.

  LoisLane
• 

  cantleave

  I used to love giving talks.

  I still give them - on much more interesting subjects, my next is at "Making Cosmetics" in Milan, Italy "An effective Natural Anti-ageing Ingredient".
• 

  blondie

  It can be lot of traveling for the family or a married couple. Few brothers could give more than 3 or 4 talks. So it was the same talk over and over at times. My husband was able to insert thought-provoking ideas and often was told specifically by listeners what they enjoyed. There is more status giving talks at assemblies and conventions. Ability was not always necessary but who you knew. I helped my husband with his outline and early in his talk giving career make a few suggestions.

  I gave talks at school and work, facing the audience. In the end I realized that making disciples depended more on one on one discussions not to an audience.
• 

  Ucantnome

  i gave talks in the school, hated it. when i was an adult i was on and off the school depending how i felt. i managed to get an g on my talks as a young person and mostly w as an adult.

  one i prepared for my wife i showed how you earn your salvation as JW by going in the service and attending the meetings the elder needed to correct it after.

  i remember when my father told me i should join the school i was about 6/7 i thought he was out of his mind ( i never understood any of it )
• 

  Phizzy

  I was thrown in at the deep end as a callow youth, giving P.T's form the age of 21. My very first one was the old 55minute long one, and an "away" talk at that, not only that, I was told I had got the dates wrong, ( actually I was mis-informed), and had to prepare it from scratch in the morning, and deliver it in the Afternoon.

  A Baptism of Fire indeed !

  I gradually honed my skills, I believed, as another poster above, that I should be a master of my subject, and that I should present something new and stimulating to my audience, I felt I owed it to them, they had made the effort to come and listen , the least I could do was give them something worth listening to.

  This involved lots of research outside of JW/WT dry as a bone stuff. Bible Commentaries were used so I really knew what the Bible was saying in a particular verse or section,and I would read many books on the subject in hand.

  I do have to say, that because I did such a dedicated and thorough job, all the Congregations I gave talks at loved it, and I was asked back many times. I was never an Elder, just a M.S, so this was unusual.

  I have to say that the accolades I got did massage my ego, I enjoyed the showmanship bit, and the letters of thanks that were sent back to my Congregation were more ego inflating.

  In the end though, as I gradually realised that the WT were full of s**t, I couldn't find an outline that I could deliver without changing 99% of it, at that point I refused to give any more P.Ts.
• 

  PYRAMIDSCHEME

  I hated giving talks but loved the attention.
• 

  OUTLAW

  I was Forced into the WBT$ MS,at the ripe Old Age of 6..

  I didn`t like it..

  JW Children are free to participate or not,in WBT$ Activities..

  Until they Refuse to Participate..

  

  ................... ...OUTLAW
• 

  Bob_NC

  I do miss giving talks. Not the attention. To know that I was a welcome relief from the usual 45 minutes of mind-numbing boredom was reward enough.

  I hated most Public Talks and was determined that mine were not going to be of that sort.
• 

  fulltimestudent

  Having been a quite shy kid, I was always nervous about giving talks, and squibbed my first few assignments, then Nathan Knorr visited Australia and in a talk, said that if you were nervous before giving a talk, you'd try harder and give a better talk. (Initial nervousness he called it). So I stuck at it and think I learned to do a reasonable job. That experience has been useful to me, when in business I had to present ideas etc, and certainly gives me an edge in class assignments at Uni.

  Funny story about a talk by a sister:

  In a certain congregation in an industrial town in OZ, the wife of the school servant would not give talks, after long discussion she agreed (to set a good example) to give a talk if she could present it to her husband. The husband couldn't get his head around being taught by his wife - (groooaaaan) but then had a brilliant idea.

  He'd dress up in drag, so his wife could talk to another woman.

  So on the night of the talk, there's a slight delay as the Sister gets settled at a table and mike, - the School servant (whose a brickkie in real life) has disappeared into a back room, and reappears in blond wig, smeared lipstick, and dress with a cushion stuffed into the top.

  There's a stunned silence in the congregation and then nervous giggles. The talk went OK. But the school servant and the congregation servant (this was before the elder arrangement) disappeared into the back room after the meeting.

  I wish we'd had phones with cameras in those days.