Since the time I felt called to preaching, I have tried to be a student of how to communicate. One of the things I have enjoyed most about having Dr. Mark Scott on our teaching team has been the opportunity to observe how he crafts and delivers sermons. For nearly 30 years Mark was a professor of preaching at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, MO. I think he's even read a book or two on preaching. At any rate, since we share the preaching duties it gives me a front row seat to see how he does it. If you want to be a better preacher or communicator, study others who are good preachers or communicators. Below are a few tips on how to learn from others. Use Your Eyes. Take everything in -- content, movements, gestures, vocal inflexions. How do their movements complement their points? Does their posture change…
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In N.T. Wright's book, "After You Believe," he has a short phrase - a small, two word phrase - that really grabbed me: "uncomfortable borderland." His point? For Christ-followers, we live at the intersection of God's desires and designs and the actual world we live in. The world the way God wants it to be and the world as it is. This is the "uncomfortable borderland" God has called us to navigate. There is tension in the uncomfortable borderland. We see a wrong that needs to be righted - who should do something about it? I can't do everything. It seems overwhelming. It is overwhelming. That may be the whole point of dragging us into the uncomfortable borderland. To only live on one side of the border or the other releases us from the tension. We hole ourselves off and become hermits or we immerse ourselves in the darkness and…
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Seth Godin has a great, short post about the origins of trust. Here is a snippet: "We trust people because they showed up when it wasn't convenient, because they told the truth when it was easier to lie and because they kept a promise when they could have gotten away with breaking it."
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5 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People from Weinschenk on Vimeo. People learn best in 20-minute chunks. There must be a reason for the successful TED-sized talk format. Multiple sensory channels compete. During a talk, you engage both the auditory and visual channels – because we'revisual creatures and the visual channel trumps the auditory, make sure your slides don't require people to read much or otherwise distract from the talk. What you say is only one part of your presentation.Paralinguistics explores how information is communicated beyond words – be aware the audience is responding to your body language and tone. Record yourself presenting to get a feel for those and adjust accordingly. If you want people to act, you have to call them to action.At the end of your presentation, be very specific about exactly what you would like your audience to do. People imitate your emotions and feel your feelings. If…
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"Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you — guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us" (2 Timothy 1:14). As I grow older, I'm more drawn to the idea of stewardship ... being a good steward of all that God has entrusted to me. This includes finances but is so much more than that. It also includes my family, time, talents, dreams, and influence. Paul tells Timothy to "guard the good deposit that was entrusted" to him. Have you ever thought of your talents as God's deposit in your life? God invested in you. Your abilities are not your own. God gave them to you. To be a good steward of the resources entrusted to me, I must guard them. This does not mean hiding them. I do not honor God by refusing to share what he has entrusted to me. I honor…
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