Preaching Daily - June 25

Today's Reading...

Public speakers who maintain a conversational tone have a better chance of keeping their audience engaged. Constantly looking down at notes hinders the conversational nature of a presentation and causes your audience to lose interest. So how can you prepare and then speak without notes?

Below I will present three steps towards speaking without notes, but first you must remember that practice makes perfect. There is simply no substitute for experience. The more you speak without notes, the more opportunity you give yourself to grow and become a better speaker. With that in mind, here are three steps towards speaking without notes:

(1) Clarity of Purpose.

Decide what is the one thing you want your audience to grasp, learn, think about, be motivated towards, etc… Then, write out that one main thing in one concise sentence. If it is not clear to you, it will not be clear to them. But, if you have a clear goal for your speech, that you can articulate, then you have taken your first step towards speaking without notes. This is because once your goal is clear to you, it will be easier to internalize, thus reducing the need for notes.

(2) The Path to Take.

Decide what authorities or manner of reason you will appeal to in order to persuade people towards your goal. Will you use multiple human interest stories? Will you present statistics, sociological studies, quote popular authors, or reference scientific facts? What will you use to persuade people that your perspective is the one they need to adopt? Then, memorize numbers, rehearse stories, and take the time to think about what you are saying from the audience’s perspective. Is your argument sound? Is it convincing? As you think through these questions, you will begin to internalize how you will make your main point.

(3) Rehearse and Refine.

Once you decide the manner of persuasion for your speech, then you must rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. As you rehearse, you will become more convinced of your own argument, gain clarity on what needs to be cut or strengthened, and refine the flow. There is no substitute for practice. Sometimes the difference between a speech being good enough and being excellent is thirty minutes to an hour… the time it takes to rehearse and refine that extra time or two.

(To read the rest of this article, click here to visit the official website)

Today’s Pastoral Resource...

Preaching Jobs

Is it time for a new career? Or possibly a career change? Head over to Preaching Jobs and you can search for ministry jobs all across the country that may be a perfect fit for you and your giftings.