59
ery, breathe life into the material, and give an enthusiasticpresenta-
tion of the truth.Beforedelivering your talk, askyourself:‘What am
Ihoping to accomplish? Do themainpoints stand out? HaveI really
madetheScriptures thebasis of my talk? Does each main point lead
naturally into thenext? Does thetalkbuild appreciation for Jehovah
andhis provisions? Does theconclusionrelate directly to the theme,
show the audience what to do, and motivate them to do it?’ If you
can answer yes to these questions, then you are in a position to ‘do
good withknowledge,’for thebenefitof thecongregationandto the
praise of Jehovah!—Prov.15:2.
Preparing Discoursesforthe Public
55
Oftentherearemanylanguagegroups
withinacountry,sopublicspeakersmaybe
calledontogiveBibletalksthroughinterpret-
ers.Ifyouareinvitedtospeakinsuchaset-
ting,thefollowingguidelineswillhelpboth
youandyourinterpreter.
˙Theeffectivenessofyourtalkwilldepend
toaconsiderableextentontheworkofthe
interpreter.Evenoneexperiencedinthefield
ofinterpretingwilldobetterworkifyouhelp
himtoprepare.
˙Generally,youmustreduceyourtalkbyat
leastonethirdtoallowfortheinterpretation.
(Signlanguageisanexception,sinceitcan
bedeliveredalmostsimultaneously.)
˙Beforedelivery,reviewwiththeinterpreter
thegeneraloutlineofyourtalkanditsob-
jective.Ifyourassignmentisamanuscripttalk
ataconvention,lettheinterpreterseeacopy
wellinadvance.
˙Discusswiththeinterpreterthescriptures
thatyouwilluse.Besurethatthevernacular
BibleconveysthesamethoughtthatyourBi-
bledoes.Showtheinterpreterwhichexpres-
sionsfromthescriptureswillbestressedor
explained.
˙Decidewhetherthescriptureswillberead
inbothlanguagesoronlyinone.Readingin
thetargetlanguagemaysuffice.
˙Rapidlystatingdates,numbers,andscrip-
turecitationscanpresentproblems.Usehelp-
fulpausing,andfavorroundnumbersfor
statistics.
˙Discussanyillustrations,idioms,andun-
usualexpressionsthatyouplantouse.Be
surethatyourinterpreterunderstandsthem
andthatitispossibletoconveytheconcepts
inthetargetlanguage.
˙Whenspeaking,useshortsentences.Ex-
presscompletethoughtsbeforepausingfor
theinterpreter.(Herendersthoughts,not
necessarilyallthewords.)Forconsecutive
interpretation,allowtheinterpretertofinish
beforeyoucontinue.
˙Theinterpreterdependsonyourusing
goodvolumeandenunciation.
WHEN YOUR TALK IS TO BE GIVEN THROUGH AN INTERPRETER