Martin- apologies it took so very long to reply. Somehow, I am not notified of replies. Sometimes I get goosebumpy moments in my shows. I enjoy the unexpected a lot. Thanks for explaining what you’re doing. In a play (eg http://heathergold.com/cookie) of course I have a lot of it prepared but it’s “scored” often rather than always specifically scripted. And I find once I open the room people do want to jump in. Isn’t that great feeling what folks want in connection? It’s a do-able thing at conferences. I often speak at conferences. But I find the quality of the experience different when there’s room to include possibility in the room.

@Heather: cool, thanks for spotting this and giving us the unpresenting.com URL. I hadn’t seen that in my link travels…

It’s always a bit dicey to compare Quaker ministry to anything performance-based. Friends have always placed a big value on meekness and humility and having the message come from the Holy Spirit. Friends talk about “outrunning the Guide” when they go beyond a message they’ve been given and start talking from their own knowledge. One bit of wisdom was to never come to a Quaker meeting prepared to minister but to also never come prepared not to minister.

There’s a couple of hundreds of years’ worth of reasons why this model has been overshadowed. Can we admit that a lot of it is economic? There’s conference centers wanting to fill in weekend slots with popular programs that will pack the visitors in. I’m more comfortable with the Old Time Religion myself but get asked to give these workshops often enough. For me it’s usually an excuse to see friends from the other side of the country but I won’t get asked back if I arrive at one and decide that the Holy Spirit isn’t giving me anything to say (“and can you please reimburse me for the plane and pass that yummy organic vegan vinaigrette?”) My conundrum is to find a way to keep something like this rooted in worship. The unpresenting style keeps presenters more engaged with the spiritual energy in the room. It’s more-or-less the technique I’ve been using. I like to over-prepare presentations in my head over showers the month before and then skip the slides and improvise at the event itself. If a workshop is successful then there will be a point where participants break out of the expected dynamic and start interrupting me. I become just another participant. The Holy Spirit takes over the presentation. It happens, though not every time. It’s a goosebumpy moment.

There is technique that works and you’ll also find some notes at unpresenting.com and on Beth’s blog. I hope to make video classes at some date in the future in addition to the live workshops.

If my understanding of Quaker meetings is accurate then why would Quakers have begun teaching in a different way?