Did anybody get The Bell?

by Nickey 17 Replies latest jw friends

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  Skeptic

  Well, the best thing that ever happened to me for public speaking was falling over the podium twice in the same talk. The audience forgave me and that cured my stage fright. Hell, you can't do worse than that!

  So, the bell never bothered me. But my timing was always pretty good anyway. Brothers have a much easier time with talks than sisters becasue we aren't having a "conversation" and can make our notes in point form.

  I find the TMS a real blessing and still prefer the TMS Guidebook to any other public speaking book. I am a good public speaker due to that course and especially due to that very humilating talk and the audience's loving non-reaction. Plus, the school overseers I had were very kind and competent.

  Richard
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  johnny cip

  sounds like the GONG SHOW!!!!! you have 5 minutes to make a fool out of yourself... i here the unknown publisher with the bag over his head never gets GONGED... I didn't see any here post their score's... seems that Chuck barris never dies.... john
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  Sentinel

  Yep, I got "the bell"...lots of times. And, I got chastized for "adding thoughts" to pre-printed WT material. I was a very bad girl.
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  benext

  I once got the bell after 4 minutes. When it rang, I just looked at the ringer curiously and left the stage. Afterward I asked the conductor and he said it was 4 minutes. Maybe the bell ringer was trigger happy. A CO once said to use the pencil tap rather than the bell because of the harshness of a bell ringing, so the bell was retired.

  I was at a Circuit Assembly when a brother giving the BH just froze and kept talking 7, 8, 9 minutes passed. Brother Moske did all he could to get his attention, getting up and slowly walking up behind him. Finally he walked up and told him to stop.
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  rebel

  Well, I never got the bell. My talks were always 2 or 3 minutes because I couldn't wait to get off the platform. I would speak at lightning speed and my poor householders were always so confused. I did knock the microphone off once and I fell down the steps to the platform on another occasion - not very ladylike you see!
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  willdabeerman

  I got the bell alot when i was a zelous zombie. I do remember getting counsled by the elders for being way under the limit. back when i started to realise how whack the borg was i got unmotivated. i remember one time in particular when i was reading the announcments i went through it so fast that they had to get up there and read it again. and of course they had to use sum of that crappy ass humor "well,bro. mingee i know wher you can get a job reading those disclaimers at the end of advertisements"...(insert everyone laughing in the hall).and i do remember one time for getting counsled for my cell phone ringing during a talk.i would let it ring and ring. then the person(happened to be my worldly g/f at the time) just kept calling. i got sum dirty looks.
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  Matty

  I get gonged a lot. I think the School Overseer wants to introduce a big hook in my congregation!

  I have been custodian of the bell of course, one of those "privileges" that are meted out to eager young brothers along with microphone handling! I was always kind, if it got to 5 minutes and they are clearly concluding I wouldn't ring it. It's very off-putting for the brother/sister concerned and very distracting to the audience.
• 

  Utopian_Raindrops

  Ok, I have a missed the bell storyRrrrr..This one ticked me off back then!

  In one cong I was in we had this wonderful Brother who had never been to school!! He learned to read upon becoming on of Jehovahs Witnesses.

  On top of the illiterate problem he also had a severe stuttering impediment.

  Well, they assigned his talk during the COs visit in the MAIN Hall!! This had to have made him much more nervous poor man!

  Anyway he gets up to give his talk reading from note cards and the bible with really bad reading skills, plus his horrible stutter.so of course he can not finish by the time the bell rang! I was completely shocked when the brother actually stopped this obvious struggling brothers talk in the 5 mins instead of lovingly let him continue. Still on TOP of that in front of the whole Hall and the visiting CO can you guess what he was council to work on was???? ON HIS TIMING!!!!! I was so angry I could have screamed!! The poor bro ran to the back of the Hall into the mens room and stayed there for a bit. When he finally came out my family and I went to him and told him how WONDERFUL he did!! His effort with all he had to contend with made his talk one of the best I had ever heard as far as I was concerned!

  I have also, heard the bell ring for those whos native languages are not English and were struggling to speak..and little children doing their bestetc.

  I could see timing it and telling someone how much over the 5 mins they went but, humiliating people who do not intend to become professional speakers in besides me!

  They just want to learn to teach the bible not become a politician or a stage star!

  I could see if we all belonged to The Toast Masters Clubbut this was supposed to be our worship not our Oscar winning performance.

  K..my 2 cents..no refunds

  Agape,

  Ciao 4 now,

  Utopian_Raindrops

  Edited by - Utopian_Raindrops on 26 December 2002 15:9:11