The One Time Programs

Question : How do we start youth preaching in any college?
We can take help of some ‘value education’ club or any other cultural club in the college to launch the ONE-TIME PROGRAM in their seminar hall.

About The One Time Programs

What is it?

  • a slideshow seminar presentation done either in the college auditorium/seminar hall.
  • can also be some hall near the college area where students stay in high density.
  • strength of students attending could range from 25 to 1000.

Vision of the program

  • to create awareness amongst students about VOICE
  • a seed-sowing program to offer spiritual side of life to students
  • to locate gem-like students who can be later polished into devotees
  • to recruit students for the follow up SIX SESSION DYS PROGRAM

Seminar Topics for presentation

You could give presentation on any ONE of the topics :

  • Art of Harnessing Mind power (town, city colleges)
  • Stress Management (city colleges)
  • Art of Self Management (town, city colleges)
  • Power of Habits (town, city colleges)
  • Eight Practical Tips for Positive Thinking (city colleges)
For most of the above topics we have the following (to help the Preacher) :
  • Color slide show presentation
  • Audio lecture CD
  • Notes or pocket book (for sale)
  • Brief point-wise notes for preacher’s reference
Contact HG Varadraj prabhu (09226827350) or write to him at info@voicepune.com

You can also contact our sales manager, Krishnakishore prabhu (020-2430 6330 or 09822451260) or write to him at the mail address: krishnakishoredas@gmail.com

Paid Seminars

Some colleges have ‘Value Education center’ (like NITW, NITSurat, NITSuratkal, IITC). They are ready to pay us travel fare and some charge for the seminar presentation. All we need to do is to co-ordinate with the authorities through a grihasta devotee or a pant-shirt student devotee with such clubs.

Venue

  1. can be conducted in the college auditorium (capacity 500-1000 students).
  2. holding class to class (or department-wise). Will attract smaller audience, better attention of students.
  3. if college auditorium is unavailable, fix up a community hall or some student's flat or terrace opposite to the college where we can invite all the students living in the neighbouring hostels/flats.
Option 1 : Best if most of the students stay in the college hostel; hardly any or no localites.
Option 2 : Best if most of the students stay in the college hostel; hardly any or no localites.
Option 3 : Best if most of the students are staying in flats near the college and very few in hostel.
Our target audience is students living in hostels/flats who want to attend our weekly program regularly. The localities are in one sense ‘useless’ from the point of view of our preaching because they :
  • are bound by the rules of parents and watched by parents always
  • have too many household duties and cannot give enough time for KC
  • stay at home and cannot take to spiritual practices seriously
  • cannot live with other devotee friends either in the hostel or flat
  • cannot attend our morning programs at flat or nearby temple very easily
Rarely do we find serious local boys becoming devotees. They may be ‘yoga brashtas’ from previous life!

Audience

The following is our confidential observation in our preaching. You have the right to differ.
  • Engineers - have time, thoughtful, organized thinkers, not in so much touch with opp sex, intellectual
  • Doctors - have no time, thoughtful, too much in touch with opp sex, their course is tough, intellectual
  • CAs - have no time, brilliant, not so much touch with opp sex, organized, hardworking, intellectual
  • College of Fine Arts - artists, journalists - similar to Arts college students, but can be very helpful to us
  • Ayurvedic college - have inferiority complex, future not as bright as MBBS, not very intellectual
  • MBA - have no time, short course..so they fly off, can’t become serious in KC
  • MCA - alright audience, if intelligent can get into software companies easily
  • Arts college students - have ample of time, too much opp sex contact, fun loving
  • Science college students - reasonably intellectual, not confident of future career
  • Polytechnics - they are kids, fun and fight loving, not serious about spiritual life

We generally prefer the first two or three categories of audience in our preaching as our goal is to recruit the top leaders of our society to join our movement. Software engineers from IIT, IIM, NIT are most welcome. At the same time, it would not be an exaggeration to say that even students from B.Com often go for M.B.A. or other courses and become powerful leaders. Once a student is spiritually awakened, then many times it is seen that Krishna supplies them intelligence in fields like preaching, managing, counseling, organizing etc. Thus the above categorization should not be taken too seriously.

Timing

  • Can be conducted during college hours - this will ensure maximum audience, but may be slightly difficult to get permission from college authorities. Also, both hostelites and localites can attend.
  • Immediately after college-hours.
  • For programs arranged outside college, in case students have tuition after college hours, then we can arrange just after dinnertime. E.g. 9.00PM onwards. The late night hours are found to be the most convenient time for the students as they generally don't go to bed before midnight.
  • can also be arranged in the College mess after dinner at 8:30 pm or 9:00 pm

It is best to consult the student leaders about what time would be best to hold our program to get the maximum response from students. Our friendship with the ‘student leader’ can also help us in moulding him into a devotee in future.

When to hold?

  • Varies from college to college, course to course; you have to enquire and find out.
  • At Pune, most colleges are functional during JAN-FEB-MAR and JUL-AUG-SEP.
  • The best time is to hold our seminar one week after all the students have returned from home and registered for the next semester or year which is generally after 10th JAN or 10th JULY. This may vary from college to college.
  • This period is a time when students don’t have much to study and they are looking for some variety program.

How does the Program go?

5:30 pm - 5:45 pm Introduction to speaker and VOICE
5:45 pm - 7:00 pm Seminar
7:00 pm - 7:15 pm Q & A
7:15 pm - 7:25 pm Short Quiz to be written on the back of Feedback slip
7:25 pm - 7:30 pm Introduce them to DYS Course and Register their name

Follow up

The truth-seeking souls who are genuinely interested in knowing more about spirituality are generally in the following category. You could note down their names and room numbers for later follow up:
  • Those who surround the speaker after the seminar
  • Those who buy books at the book table
  • Those who hang around with prasadam after the program
  • Those who ask Questions or like arguing on the topic after the program
  • Those who get maximum marks in the Quiz
  • Those who answer the Questions during the seminar
  • Those who help us in organizing the seminar in the college
  • Those who register for the DYS Six session course

Most of the cream devotees that we get after 2 years of preaching in a college will be mostly from the above. So if you note down their names now, you will save two years of preaching and hard work! Without this follow up, the one-time is as good as useless. This is the main purpose for which we conduct the one-time program. So keep volunteers who will be specially appointed for this.

Tables to be arranged

  1. PRASADAM TABLE for distributing prasadam; prasadam should be like sevai sweet not dry to allow time to talk to attendees; also we can give them second and third help and make friends with them.
  2. DYS REGISTRATION TABLE to with forms to register them for joining 6-session course; keep charge for the course as some Rs.25/- or Rs.50/- a reasonable amount.
  3. SP AND VOICE BOOKS TABLE displaying Bhagavad gita and other VOICE books for sale.
  4. EXHIBITION SHOW of colorful posters or pictures on soul, God, science etc to hold the audience after the seminar to show them and talk to them.
  5. Q & A CHAIR CIRCLE we could arrange two or three such circles with each having 5 to 6 chairs.

How to approach the College? (if majority of students are in hostel)

  1. It is always better to approach not as an organization (VOICE/ISKCON) but as a group of students (from the same college). These students (wonderful if they are devotees) can take help from the local college cultural committee (useful, as the authorities know the cultural committee), who are usually interested in holding such kind of seminars (student development / cultural programs). These students should request the authorities to hold the one-time program conducted by VOICE. Alternatively, if there are no devotee students, we can directly try approaching the cultural committee secretary.
  2. Approaching the highest authority (such as principal/director of institute) for permission directly is not advisable (and risky) as if he/she refuses then we have no further entrance into the college. Better to approach the lowest authority first and then his senior, if he so requests or even denies (e.g. the teacher - HOD - vice principal - principal).
  3. We also have to take permission for a subsequent 6-session program to be held in the college. We can explain that simply one lecture is not enough to explain this topic properly and many sincere and inquisitive boys demand a proper course.

How to organize outside the College? (if majority of students are in flats)

  • Step 1 : Go flat to flat and distribute ‘Discover your self’ ‘Your best friend’ etc or any of the pocket books and note down names of those who buy
  • Step 2 : When buyers’ list goes beyond hundred, locate one boy who will give his terrace for a program
  • Step 3 : Make an invitation for a one-time program with his address and distribute it to all buyers.
  • Step 4 : If you feel the same boy may not agree to give his place for 6 session course, then during the seminar, ask whether anyone would like to volunteer organizing 6-session program in their terrace or room. Those who volunteer for this ask them to stand up and tell their address to all. Whichever boy’s address is most convenient for all, fix up his address as venue for 6 session course. Then tell all those who volunteered to give their place to stand up and let the whole audience give them applause!
  • Step 5 : The follow up of boys after the program remains the same. Here in the outside college program we can also have the following freedom :
    • Altar with Radha Krishna and Srila Prabhupada
    • Singing with mridangam and kartals
    • Chanting demonstration of one-fourth of a round of Hare Krishna mantra
    • Selling malas at book table

Publicity

This should start about 4 days in advance. We have to ensure that practically every student knows about the program, either through charts or announcements.
  1. Make attractive charts giving details of 1-time program and put up on college notice boards, mess, college gate, hotels and all other prominent places (at least 25 charts).
  2. Announce in all classes at least 2-3 times, especially on the day of the program.
  3. Volunteers should "get" students for the program. Class teachers can be requested to personally guide the students to the hall/auditorium to ensure mass attendance. Attendance of students for the program can be made mandatory through authorities.
  4. In case program is conducted in a hall, we should print thousands of leaflets and distribute to students while they are going in/out of college.
  5. We can distribute pocket books in the students' hostels/flats and note down name and address of anybody who buys the books. These can become future regular candidates of the 6-session / weekly program.
  6. Also go around the hostels and flats enrolling candidates for the 6-session course.

Requirements for the Program

  1. Volunteers - at least 6 to 8
  2. Color slides and color slide projector
  3. Pamphlets / Charts/ Banners
  4. 1000/2000 copies pocket books
  5. Address slips
  6. Introduction of Speaker or Presenter
  7. A DYS Course Advertisement Trailer Slide show to introduce the course
  8. Quiz slide that can be projected on the screen
  9. Some special prasadam like peda to give Principal or Professors after program

Quiz

A quiz can be conducted at the end of the lecture, if time permits. This quiz involves very little written work for students, may be a few words, to test their understanding. The answers for the quiz are written by the students on the backside of address slip, so that immediately after correction, shortlisting the toppers becomes easy. The quiz can be shown in a slide. Through this, we can identify good boys from the mass. Those who get 5 out of 5, 4.5 out of 5 and 4 out of 5 can be short listed for prizes and their names can be typed and displayed on their college notice boards with VOICE logo in the top congratulating them. The prizes could be distributed by the hands of a college professor within the next two or three days. The prizes could be as simple as a COMING BACK book for the first prize, ON THE WAY TO KRISHNA for the second, and a pocket book for the third.

Announcements

  1. Introducing the preacher (can be done either in the beginning or end)
  2. Details about the 6-session course (date-time-venue)
  3. Prizes for toppers in Quiz
  4. Thanksgiving to the college, others who helped organise the program
  5. Prasadam
  6. Short information about VOICE activities (this can be even in the beginning)
  7. Local VOICE students address and class for further contact with VOICE

VOICE