Who might want to hear you talk about ringing? Well, there are plenty of village and church friendship societies, along with Mothers’ Union, Athenaeum, U3A, people learning at home who want online content or patient-support groups, all seeking new speakers as entertainment; they’d love to hear about an unusual hobby recently in the news. Better still, scout/guide and other youth groups also like to hear about new activities for their members, and you might eventually generate some recruits. Companies with team-building schemes might even be interested – so if you enjoy telling people about your special skill, where will you start?
Most people will have heard about the sally but not the tail-end, and a working model or at least a good drawing and preferably a video will be of interest to groups who are to be allowed a taste of ringing – and if your tower’s accessible, that could include anyone! Assuming though that you’re confined to a hall or even presenting your course online, you’ll want to run through some of the jargon – for a less technical audience, also think about references to ringing in everyday language.
Depending on the desired length of your talk, you’d want to mention the historical background to ringing in more or less detail; especially if metal-working was a local industry, you could include a video about making bells, and mention composition, tuning, even transport and tales about installation – particularly if you know (or are) someone who’s been involved in commissioning bells. You could mention famous people known to have been ringers along with any hairy tales, tempered with assurances about the rules which allow us to ring in safety.
You’ll mention rounds, called changes and method ringing – the latter to an extent governed by your audience. Some audiences will be fascinated by the mathematical aspects of ringing, such as symmetry, and to get some audience participation, why not set those willing, the task of completing a simple grid? However, you will need to be sure in advance what the mathematical ability of the audience is likely to be. You could point out the celebratory aspect of peals and quarters and horrify your listeners with tales of superhuman stamina, or even set your audience homework – e.g. to find out about events celebrated locally with bells.
Give contact details for the local tower and ringing society, and do point out the social aspects of ringing: encourage people to have bells rung for a local events such as fete, school opening, significant anniversary, or national festival. Don’t forget to tip people off about Dove’s Guide – and certainly don’t miss the opportunity to explain how expensive bells are to restore if they’re not well maintained, thereby priming your captive audience for the next local fund-raising effort. Good luck!
Make up a scrap-book (tangible or virtual) showing churches you’ve visited, a range of bell-chambers (more hairy tales, no doubt) – even photos of ringers’ teas (if you had time to snap before the ringers descended). Use ART, CCCBR and local society resources for research; and why not write up a snippet to put in a local paper or on a church/village or local town’s website? Keep the profile high!
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