Scheduling Public Talks in New World Scheduler is easy and simple. The Coordinator of the Body of Elders or the Public Talk Coordinator can use New World Scheduler to schedule both Local and Away Public Talks.
To schedule local Public Talks, click Schedule > Public Talks Local, or alternately click Schedule > Public Talks > Public Talks Combined
Public Talks Local
New World Scheduler Public Talks Local allows you to schedule Public Talks and Weekend Assignments up to 18 months in advance. Past Public Talk history is kept for 4 years (48 months).
Before scheduling Local Public Talks, you should first add some Neighbor Congregations and Public Speakers and some Local Public Speakers.
To set a week as Circuit Overseer, Circuit Assembly or any other Special Event, please see Congregation Events.
In addition to selecting the Speaker and Talk, you can also set their Song number and tick the Confirm Speaker button if the speaker has confirmed. or untick the Confirm Speaker button. This does not have any other effect on the program, and is for your own reference only.
Select Public Speaker
- Note: To add Neighbor Congregations and Public Speakers, see either Help > Persons > Assign Privileges and Duties (for local speakers) or Congregation > Neighbor Congregations and Speakers (for neighbor speakers)
- Click Schedule > Public Talks Local
- Optionally, if you have added any Language Groups, either select Congregation or the Language Group name.
- Select the Meeting you wish to Schedule
- Click the Public Speaker button
- The Select Public Speaker and Talk window will open
- Slide to either Public Speaker or Other Speaker
- Note: Select Public Speaker to chose from your list of Neighbor Congregations and Public Speakers. This is the recommended option.
- Note: Select Other Speaker if you wish to manually type in the Speaker Name. This should only be done if that speaker is not in your circuit or a nearby circuit.
- If you chose Public Speaker:
- Select the Circuit or select All Circuits
- Select the Congregation and then the Public Speaker
- You can also first select a Public Talk Outline, and then tick Filter by Selected Outline to show all speakers who can deliver this outline.
- Or, you can Search for a Public Speaker in all congregations.
- If you chose Other Speaker:
- Manually type in their name
- Either click OK, or also select a Public Talk
- Note: You may select a Public Talk at a later time.
Select Public Talk
- Click Schedule > Public Talks Local
- Optionally, if you have added any Language Groups, either select Congregation or the Language Group name.
- Select the Meeting you wish to Schedule
- Click the Public Talk button
- The Select Public Speaker and Talk window will open
- On the right, slide to either Outline or Special
- Note: Select Outline to chose from the list of outlines.
- Note: Select Special to enter your own Public Talk text, such as for Circuit Overseers visits, Special Talks or for Branch representatives.
- If you chose Outline, select your Outline and click OK
- If you chose Special, type in the Public Talk title and click OK
Chose the most appropriate Public Talk
When selecting the Public Talk Outline, New World Scheduler will show a list of all Public Talk Outlines, including the Date the Public Talk was last given in your congregation, and the name of the Public Speaker.
This list is shaded in red, depending on when the public talk was last given. Dark Red means the public talk was recently given or will be given in the future, whereas Light Red means the Public Talk has not been given for a long time.
No shade (white) means the Public Talk Outline either has never been given in your congregation, or has not been given for a very long time.
Add or Edit Public Talk Outlines
Please see Add or Edit Public Talk Outlines
Public Talk & Weekend Meeting Reminders and Notifications
Send Reminder, Invitation or Confirmation to Public Speaker
This is a Quick Step that will send a Public Talk Reminder, Invitation or Confirmation to the selected upcoming Public Speaker, and optionally their Public Talk Coordinator.
- Note: You can only send reminders, invitations and confirmations to Public Speakers and Public Talk Coordinators who have been added in Neighbor Congregations & Public Speakers
- Select a week (either this week or a future week)
- Click the Reminder, Invitation or Confirmation button (up the top, next to the Public Speaker name)
- Choose either Reminder, Invitation or Confirmation
- Optionally, tick Cc Public Talk Coordinator
- Click OK
- Check the Email and click Send
- Note: This Quick Step is used by the Public Talk Coordinator to send reminders, invitations and confirmations to upcoming Public Speakers. However, there is no reason a Public Talk Coordinator would ever need to remind their own local speakers of upcoming Away Talks. That is not their responsibility.
Other Quick Steps
The following other Quick Steps are available:
- Send Upcoming Public Talk Assignments to appointed brothers
- Send Visiting Speaker Invitations to Public Talk Coordinators
- Send Weekend Meeting Assignment Reminders
NW Publisher app
Public Talk schedules and upcoming Public Talk and Weekend Meeting assignments can be displayed on the NW Publisher app, along with phone Notifications and Reminders.
Public Talk Information
Song
Select the Opening Song number the Public Speaker has chosen. This will display on the Public Talks Schedule and the NW Publisher app.
Speaker Confirmed
Tick Confirm Speaker if the speaker has confirmed. This does not have any effect on New World Scheduler or the Public Talk Schedule, and is for your own reference only.
Available for Hospitality
Tick Available for Hospitality if the speaker is available for hospitality.
- Note: Available for Hospitality must be ticked for the Request Hospitality button to show on NW Publisher app.
Notes
Enter any notes about the Public Talk or Public Speaker for that week. All notes are local only, and will not appear on the Public Talk Scheduler or NW Publisher app.
- Note: If you Send Public Talk Reminder, the Notes will automatically be updated with the date you sent the reminder.
Swap a Public Talk
New World Scheduler can swap a Public Talk and Speaker with another week.
- Note: Other Weekend Assignments will not be swapped.
- Up the top-left, click Swap
- Select the From Date
- Select the To Date
- Click OK
Cancel or Remove a Public Talk
- Select the week you wish to change or cancel
- Click the Public Speaker or Public Talk button
- Under Public Speaker, click Clear
- Note: This will clear both the Public Speaker and his congregation.
- Under Outline, click Clear
- Click OK
- The Public Talk for that week will be cleared. If needed, re-assign another Public Speaker for this week.
Enter past Public Talk History
When you first start using New World Scheduler, you might like to enter your congregation’s past Public Talk History. This will ensure you don’t repeat two Public Talks in a short period of time.
Public Talk History can be quickly and easily entered and will be kept for 4 years (48 months).
- Up the top-left, click the Past History button
- Select the Year and Month
- Optionally, select the Public Speaker who gave that talk
- Enter the Public Talk Number
- Click + to add the Public Talk to that month
- Repeat for all talks given during that month
Schedule Weekend Assignments
- Note: You can use Auto-Assign to automatically assign Weekend Assignments
- Note: Most Weekend Assignments that can be customised as needed. If you do not want to use certain Weekend Assignments, simply clear the name of the Assignment. Empty assignments will not display on Reports, Schedules or the NW Publisher app.
- Optionally, if you have added any Language Groups, either select Congregation or the Language Group name.
- Select the Meeting you wish to Schedule.
- Click the Weekend Assignment you want to schedule (e.g. Chairman)
- Select the person
- Note: See Assign Privileges and Duties to add or remove persons
- Click OK
- Note: Some assignments like Opening or Closing Prayer would normally be given by the Chairman or Public Speaker. Therefore scheduling things like the Closing Prayer should only be considered a backup in case the speaker leaves early. If the speaker will give the Closing Prayer, simply leave this blank. That is normal.
Clear Assignments
- Optionally, if you have added any Language Groups, either select Congregation or the Language Group name.
- Select the Meeting.
- Click the Weekend Assignment you want to clear (e.g. Chairman)
- Click the Clear button (down the bottom)
- Click OK
Schedule Hospitality
- Note: You can use Auto-Assign to automatically assign Hospitality
- Note: Hospitality cannot be separately assigned for Language Groups.
- Select the Meeting you wish to Schedule.
- Tick Available for Hospitality if a Public Speaker is Available for Hospitality for a particular week.
- Click Hospitality
- Set the dropdown box to either Person, Field Service Group or Other Group
- Select the person or group
- Note: See Assign Privileges and Duties
- Click OK
Available for Hospitality
Tick Available for Hospitality if a Public Speaker is Available for Hospitality for a particular week.
- Note: If you wish to allow publishers to use the NW Publisher app to Request Hospitality for a week, or if you Print the Local Public Talk Schedule and allow publishers to write their own names under Hospitality for a week, you will need to tick Available for Hospitality.
NW Publisher App Hospitality Requests
If enabled, publishers can request hospitality using NW Publisher app for the Public Speakers and weeks they choose.
- Enable the App Feature Allow Hospitality Requests.
- Under Schedule Public Talks Local, Available for Hospitality must be ticked for the week.
- Publishers can then Request Hospitality for that week using NW Publisher app.
- An assigned brother should Receive and Import any Hospitality Requests.
- Note: See Receive or Import App Data.
- After import, a new Custom Task will be automatically generated and assigned to the Public Talk Coordinator.
- Note: If no one has been assigned as Congregation Responsibilities > Public Talk Coordinator, no task will be generated.
- The Public Talk Coordinator should then review the requests, and manually assign Hospitality in the normal manner.
Auto-Assign Weekend Assignments
Auto-Assign is a feature in New World Scheduler that allows the Coordinator of the Body of Elders or Public Talk Coordinator to automatically schedule the Weekend Meeting Assignments, such as Chairman, Watchtower Reader and Public Speaker Hospitality.
Auto-Assign can save time and also ensure students are evenly scheduled. However, Auto-Assign should please be used responsibly.
- Note: Please see Auto-Assign Help for more information about how Auto-Assign works, Auto-Assign limitations and how to best use Auto-Assign.
Schedule a Language Group
Language Groups can schedule their own Weekend meetings, including Public Talks and Weekend Assignments.
After you have added a Language Group and ticked Weekend Meeting, the Schedule Public Talks – Local screen will allow you to chose between either Congregation or Language Group scheduling.
- Note: Please see Groups and Families > Language Groups to add a Language Group and tick Weekend Meeting.
Common Questions and Problems
There are two ways:
Method 1: Simply schedule the brother who is giving the talk (not the elder helping). Technically it is his talk, so it is appropriate to have him listed, even if another elder is helping with a part of the talk.
- Note: This method will only send an assignment to the main brother on the NW Publisher app, not the helper.
Method 2: When selecting the Public Speaker, select Other Speaker and type in the names of both speakers.
- Note: This method will not send an assignment to either of those brothers on the NW Publisher app.
Public Talks Scheduler can only schedule your regular weekend meeting.
If you have an extra or special meeting, we recommend adding this as a Congregation Event. The time, speaker and details can be added to the Event Details.
Please carefully re-read the Schedule Local Public Talks section above.
- Ensure you have selected Public Speaker
- Ensure you have selected a Neighbor Congregation.
- If you have selected your own congregation, ensure you have set some members to give Local Public Talks (see Persons Assign)
- If you have selected a Neighbor Congregation, ensure you have added Public Speakers to that congregation (see Congregation > Neighbor Congregation and Speakers)
As per sfl, the Watchtower Study Conductor should not be scheduled. Instead, this brother is selected by the body of elders and handles this assignment each week.
The body of elders may assign another elder as his assistant who would conduct the Watchtower Study in his absence.
If your congregation does things differently, we urge you to carefully re-read and follow the clear directions given to all congregations worldwide.
Please carefully re-read the Schedule Weekend Assignments section above.
If you do not want to use certain Weekend Assignments, simply remove the name of the assignment and leave it blank. It will then not display on the schedule, reports or the JWS Publisher app.
You can schedule Local Public Talks up to 18 months in advance. Dates automatically update and cannot be changed.
There is no reasonable reason anyone should ever need to schedule further into the future, and no written direction to do so.
For example, Bethel only arranges Bethel Public Speakers about 9-12 months in advance. Convention and Assembly assignments are only given 3-6 months in advance. Even assemblies and conventions themselves are rarely scheduled more than 12 months in advance.
The vast majority of congregations worldwide schedule about 6-12 months in advance. In some very rare cases, congregations might schedule up to 18 months in advance.
If your congregation or circuit schedules further than 18 months in advance, we encourage you to change and do things more in line with the worldwide brotherhood. (1 Corinthians 1:10)
Please carefully re-read the section Schedule Weekend Assignments section above.
Only Active persons who are not Away, not Disfellowshipped and have the correct Assign value set will show in this list.
Please check the person is:
- Active. See Person > Spiritual
- Not Away during that time. See Person > Information > Away Periods
- Assigned to that duty. See Assign Privileges and Duties
Please carefully re-read the Schedule Local Public Talks – Additional Scheduling Options section above.
You can first select a Public Talk Outline, and then tick Filter by Selected Outline to show all speakers who can deliver this outline.
No. It is not the responsibility of the local Public Talk Coordinator to remind their local speakers they have an upcoming Away Talk. That is the responsibly of the other Public Talk Coordinator.
All Public Talk Coordinators will contact incoming Public Speakers the week of the talk to confirm the time and location of the meeting, and to offer hospitality.
Public Talk Coordinates can use New World Scheduler to send such Invitations, Confirmations and Reminders to all upcoming Local Public Speakers, including incoming from other congregations. Please see Send Reminder, Invitation or Confirmation.
Public Talk Coordinators can also use New World Scheduler to send a list of upcoming Away Talks to their Local Speakers. Please see Public Talk Reports & Schedules.
However, there is no reason a Public Talk Coordinator would need to remind their own local speakers of Away Talks.
Additional Help
- Schedule the Christian Life and Ministry Meeting
- Schedule Local Public Talks
- Schedule Away Public Talks
- Schedule Field Service
- Schedule Public Witnessing Carts
- Schedule Congregation Duties
- Schedule Kingdom Hall Cleaning
- Schedule Lawn & Garden Care
- Schedule Maintenance Tasks (LDC)
- Schedule Circuit Overseer Visit
- Auto-Assign
- Language Groups