by Joliette 26 Replies latest jw friends
Since I was a sister at the kingdom hall, I was a little confused when the brothers give talks as a kid. Do the brother work around an outline, or do they write around the outline. How does this work?
And is this the same for memorials, funerals, etc?
The public talk given each sunday has an outline written by the Watchtower Society. The speaker is instructed to use it as a guide, but not to use it word for word. They are not allowed to deviate, but each talk will have it's own style depending on who gives it.
-Sab
So the brothers have to follow an outline? They can never write the public talks from there own words?
How legalistic
Yes they do! Here's a letter!
"To The Elders of the Congregation of Bullshit Please follow these guidelines:
A) Introduction and welcome
B)Song
C)Prayer
D)Deceive
E)Sugar Coat Material
F)Present Logical Fallacies
G)Deceive
H)Song
I)Prayer
PS: Results may vary "
Me
Indeed, I always wondered about this process. If someone could post a sample outline, I would greatly appreciate it. My curiosity is alive about the amount of detail in the outline. Do other brothers in the KH have access to the outline to monitor any deviation from the outline? Part of me doesn't believe that the Witnesses would allow any difference in tone or content.
Can't people understand that there working for free for a business?
A Public Speaker does have a certain leeway in preparing his talk. Even when they were 45 minutes long there was more material provided than could be covered in the time , and now they are cut short to 30 mins. One is supposed not to deviate
I have never heard of anybody following the outline to check a speaker. I do not think anybody listens very hard these days
Provided that you do not say anything noticeably outrageous, nothing will be said if a speaker deviates and brings in additional research.
The "Special Talk" every Spring is viewed as more important and should not be deviated from. The words and emphasis though are the speakers own. It is very difficult to read a manuscript like it was a talk , and you would know if he was reciting it.
I believe that Assembly talks are rehearsed before a C/O or someone, but they never gave me one of those
I can remember the time when the Public Talk was 55 minutes long. I never had the "privilege" of giving a public talk during all of my nearly thirty years of being a baptized Witness, but I knew the mechanics of writing and delivering one. The speaker was given an outline back then, but he had considerably more leeway in writing the talk and presenting the information in his own words. With the time for the Public Talk now half of what it was back in the 1970s, there is far less freedom and discretion given to the speakers. Also, given the climate of paranoia that today's Governing Body operates in, it doesn't surprise me that they have moved to "standardize" the information that will be presented with tighter outlines and other controls.
Quendi
So the brothers have to follow an outline? They can never write the public talks from there own words?
Legalistic, perhaps, but not at all surprising. After all, witnesses like my wife, take pride in the fact that the witnesses all over the world are being taught the same thing on a particular Sunday. How else can this be accomplished without an outline sent down from "on high?"
@BluesBrother - The "Special Talk" is indeed a manuscript and is basically read and made to "sound" as much as possible like a regular talk. It may well be the speakers emphasis, but not his own words. Bin there, done that,
