For their first talk in the Theocratic Ministry School, the school overseer (or another counselor, if the enrollment is large) will offer only commendation on points the student handles well. Thereafter, the counselor will progressively concentrate on a counsel point that most needs attention to improve the student’s presentation, and he will specifically assign the student to work on that point in connection with his next talk. The counselor will inform each student when he is ready to move on to other points on the counsel slip.

⁵ Some student speakers may move ahead rather quickly, while others may need to work on just one point at a time rather than trying to handle the points covered in any one full Study. In fact, some students may be well advised to give several talks while working on one difficult point, so that they really master the speech quality involved before passing on to another.

6, 7. On what points will counsel be given by the school overseer?

⁶ The counsel given after each student talk should be kindly, designed to assist the student to keep on improving his speaking ability. Any counsel given to the speaker who delivers the instruction talk or Bible highlights, however, is offered privately after the school. Particularly would this speaker be counseled if he ran over the allotted time. The instruction talk speaker should strive to give a model talk in all respects, and private counsel may not be needed.

⁷ The points on which counsel is to be given will usually be those on which the student was previously counseled to work. Of course, if some other aspect of the talk is particularly good, the counselor may certainly include it in his commendation, but he will not mark the counsel slip on that point. The marks to be used are as follows: “W” (Work on this) when further work on the particular speech quality would be advantageous; “I” (Improved) when a student has already worked on a point at least once before and gives evidence of improvement but could advantageously work on it another time; “G” (Good) when the quality under consideration was demonstrated well enough to warrant moving on to a study of other speech qualities when preparing the next assignment in the school. When a student has a reading assignment, the counselor will offer points of counsel that best fit this type of assignment.

8-10. In marking the counsel slip, what should the school overseer have in mind so as to encourage progress?

⁸ Considerable discernment should be used by the school overseer to accomplish the most good by the counsel given. If a speaker is very new, what is needed more than anything else is encouragement. Other students, longer in the school, may be diligent in preparing their talks, giving attention to the speech qualities on which they are assigned to work, but they may have limited ability. In such cases, if a certain speech quality is manifested even to a limited extent, the school overseer may mark it “G” on the counsel slip, and allow the student to move on to another quality needing attention.

⁹ On the other hand, another speaker may have greater experience or more natural ability, but, perhaps due to the press of other work, he may not have taken the time to make a study of the speech qualities assigned and as a result he may not have done as well as he could. In such a case as this it will actually hinder the progress of the student if the school overseer marks “G” on the counsel slip and tells him to go on to something else. If the talk was of such a type that the assigned quality could have been manifested, the counselor will mark it “W” (Work on this) and kindly offer some personal assistance to the student to help him to progress. In this way students will be encouraged to make each talk, not merely the fulfillment of an assignment, but a marker in their progress as speakers.

11-16. What guidelines does the counselor endeavor to follow so as to be upbuilding in his counsel?

¹¹ Counselor. The school overseer should make a careful study of each week’s study material so that he will be able to determine if the material assigned is well covered and to be in position to correct any inaccuracies. He should never get to the point, however, that he cannot enjoy the talks because of being overly critical of the way the material is delivered. He too should gain benefit from the fine truths expressed.

¹² In counseling he usually opens with a word of commendation for the effort on the part of the student. Then he proceeds to comment on the points from the counsel slip on which the speaker is working. If a point needs continued attention, emphasis should be placed, not so much on the weakness of the speaker, but on how improvement might be made. Thus the counsel will upbuild the speaker and others in the audience.

¹³ It is not enough merely to tell a speaker that he did well or that he needs to work again on a particular speech quality. It will be helpful to everyone present if the counselor will explain why it was good or why it needed improvement and how to improve. In addition, it will be beneficial for him to highlight reasons why the speech quality under discussion is so necessary in the field ministry or in the congregation meetings. This will stimulate appreciation for the point on the part of the entire congregation and will encourage the student to continue giving it attention.

¹⁴ It is not the counselor’s duty to give a review of the student’s talk. He should be brief and to the point with his counsel, carefully limiting it to two minutes for each student talk. In this way the counsel and suggestions will not be obscured by too many words. Also, it is appropriate to refer the student to the pages in this book where he can find additional information on the matter that was discussed.

¹⁵ Minor errors in pronunciation or grammar are not the big things to be watched. Rather the counselor should be concerned about the general effect of the speaker’s presentation. Is the material worth while and informative? Is it well organized and easy to follow? Is the delivery sincere, earnest, convincing? Do his facial expression and his gestures show that he believes what he is saying and that he is more concerned about getting the fine truths across to his hearers than he is about the impression he is making? If these vital matters are well cared for, a few mispronunciations and grammatical errors will hardly be noticed by the audience.

¹⁶ Counsel given in the ministry school should always be given in a kindly, helpful manner. There should be a keen desire to aid the student. Consider the personality of the one to be counseled. Is he sensitive? Does he have a limited education? Are there reasons for making allowances for his weaknesses? Counsel should make the one counseled feel helped, not criticized. Be sure he understands the counsel and its reasonableness.