Guest Speaker List –
FAQs
- The Thomas Jefferson District of the Unitarian Universalist
Association provides this Guest Speakers service (hosted at its
website, www.tjd.uua.org/speakers).
TJD
home About the Speaker Service
program...
- Who sponsors the Guest Speaker service?
- Who can use this service to find a speaker?
- Does anyone pre-approve the speakers or their
topics?
- Who contacts the speakers regarding a possible
speaking engagement?
- Who checks the speaker's references?
- What states are in the Thomas Jefferson District
region?
- Can congregations jointly book a speaker to
appear at several functions?
About the Speakers....
- Who are the speakers?
- How do speakers get listed?
- How often is the speaker information
updated?
- What are the topics?
- How far will speakers travel and what about fees
and expenses?
- Can the speaker list external websites (their
own or an organization's web page)?
FAQs about the TJD District Speaker-List
program...
- Who sponsors the Guest Speaker
service?
- The TJD Communication-Council sponsors this service. For
additional information email the TJD-Guest-Speaker-Program.
- Who can use this service to find a
speaker?
- The TJD District provides the Guest-Speaker List as a service
to its member and emerging congregations who are typically looking
for a speaker for a Sunday Service or other event. Since this is a
public website, any visitor to the site can view the list,
registration forms and this FAQ page, but most people looking for
speakers will be on Sunday-Service committees from TJD-region
congregations (both minister and lay-led).
- Does anyone pre-approve the speakers or
their
topics? [return
to top]
- Neither the TJD District nor its Communication-Council
endorses any speaker or topic. However, speakers must provide
references and topic descriptions that requestors can use in
making their selections. The Communication-Council will review the
registration forms for completeness, and at their discretion may
make grammatical and formatting changes. Speaker's topic
descriptions may be edited for conciseness.
- Who contacts the speakers regarding
a possible speaking engagement?
- The person, congregation or committee wanting the speaker will
make any and all arrangements.
- Who checks the speaker's
references?
- The person, congregation or committee wanting the speaker
should check references as needed. You can contact the
TJD-Guest-Speaker-Program if any of those references are out of
date, and the communication committee will request an update from
the speaker then update the web list or withdraw the speaker's
listing.
- What states are in the Thomas Jefferson
District?
- This Unitarian Universalist Association region includes all of
North and South Carolina and congregations in most of Tennessee
and Virginia and several congregations located in northeast
Georgia. The website's menu has a link to a list of these
congregations and their contact information.
- Can congregations jointly book a speaker
to appear at several functions?
- Yes. You'll need to coordinate that with the other
congregations in your area. Start by finding the committee or
person who makes arrangements for Sunday services or speakers.
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FAQs about the TJD District Speaker-List
speakers...
About the Speakers....
- Who are the speakers?
- Speakers are typically members of UU congregations who may
have already given presentations at Sunday Services or events.
Other speakers and organizations may be located the TJD region and
have decided they too have topics of interest to Unitarian
Universalists. If you know of someone who would like to be listed,
they can submit a speaker registration form.
- How do speakers get listed?
- Those interested will complete a Speaker Registration form and
return it to the District office or email it to the Guest-Speaker
service. Registration is pretty easy, but it does require a
speaker to be prepared to give a congregation at least three
references who they can contact. When the speaker
registration information is published on the website, the
speaker's e-mail and contact information is included. However, the
speakers' e-mail addresses will be encrypted to provide an
increased level of privacy against spamming.
- How often is the speaker's list
updated?
- At least once a year, the speakers will be asked to provide an
updated registration. As needed, speakers should submit an updated
registration form.
- What are the topics?
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- Topics can be anything, but we have created several
categories: Religion/Philosophy; Education; Health and Wellbeing;
and Other.
Speakers will provide brief descriptions of their presentations.
- How far will speakers travel and what
about fees and expenses?
- Travel distances and fees will vary from "just locally" and
"no charge" to extensive distances and specific fees and expenses.
Speakers are asked to provide some information with their listing.
When making arrangements, both the speaker and the requestor
should discuss the options. Members of UU congregations often
provide overnight accommodations (home hospitality) for speakers.
- Can speakers include external links to
their websites?
- Speakers can list a link to another website. However, to
minimize web maintenance and potential for out-dated information,
we don't allow the click-to-see options. Instead, you'll need to
copy/paste the link in a URL. During the interview phase with
congregational representatives, the speakers can provide other web
links, additional references and details. Speakers are responsible
for providing URL-address updates.
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