Preaching #53

In teaching people to learn to preach, I encourage them to learn to do that without PowerPoint (or other forms of slides) as the latter should be an addition and only used if necessary to enhance the purpose of the presentation.

‘As speech coach Craig Valentine puts it, “If you and your PowerPoint are saying the same exact thing, one of you is not needed.” The solution to this is to have no text or a minimum amount of text on your slides. Instead, fill up your slides with large, visually stunning images that complement what you are saying.’

Karia, Akash. How to Deliver a Great TED Talk: Presentation Secrets of the World’s Best Speakers (How to Give a TED Talk Book 1) . AkashKaria.com. Kindle Edition.

The problem here is not the program but its use.

PS this post is meant to be “ironic.”

Preaching #52

The last two posts have been about signalling and signposting as features of sermon design and delivery.

These were the basic mechanics with a bit of theory.

But not all signalling and signposting needs to be as explicit as First, Second, Third, or A, B, C.

Not all sermons are the same sort of vehicle with the same sort of engine driving them forward.

The type of signalling and signposting required will depend upon the nature of the sermon, its style, and its purpose.

In more narrative sermons, which have an inner logic or flow, transitions and signalling will be more implicit, involving such things as a change of scene, character, of language, or style.

But still the signalled transitions need to be there and the listeners need to get them in order for the progression to make sense.

I recently read a poorly produced e-book detective novel. The text still had editorial or publishers guidance and so the phrase “scene break” kept appearing. In this instance, for the reader, this signal was an interruption, out of place, and broke the moment of “make believe.” It was also absolutely unnecessary because the scene break itself was obvious through character and location change in the novel itself.

The point, therefore, is not that a sermon needs points or explicit “and now” but that a sermon needs a form or structure, perhaps a narrative structure, and that the preacher needs to help guide the listener in the progression whether that progression be logical, narrative, metaphorical, or emotional.

Unnecessary signposting or the wrong sort of signalling can be as unhelpful as no signposting and signalling.

Photo by Tobias on Unsplash.

Preaching #51

“Connections and transitions often make the difference between a great speech and a good one. While shifting from one point to another sounds straightforward and easy enough, rarely is the direct route the one that takes in all the sights you want to see along the way.”

Jakes, T. D.. Don’t Drop the Mic (p. 135). FaithWords. Kindle Edition.

“With the signpost you structure the minds of your audience. With the signpost you rule their logic. Indispensable.”

Mueck, Florian. 102 VISUAL TIPS: For More Simplicity in Public Speaking (p. 91). florianmueck.com. Kindle Edition.

See Politurgy #50 as to why this might be crucial for your message.

Preaching #50

If we want to be clear as well as compelling we need to make sure we effectively signpost and transition between the parts.

Why?

Well the brain likes to reduce and organize the information it receives.

Therefore,

if you have a sermon that contains 3 main ideas related to a message, lets call them ABC, it is good to know that these three letters can be organized in 6 different permutations ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB, CBA (ABCD has 24 permutations)

This is important

because if you do not clearly guide as to how you want these ideas to be received, say as CBA, your listeners may well come away understanding something quite different (ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB) from what you intended because you were not clear and they have organized them differently.

To be sure

the Spirit may cause a person to hear something other than you intended.

Then again

it may simply be that we were not very clear.

Preaching #49

A hack for more dynamism in delivery, is genuine discovery in study, rather than the easy repetition of familiar truisms.

In a church long ago a church “secretary” told me that when a predecessor of mine got up to preach, and read the Scripture, he knew what the pastor would preach from that passage.. He commented wryly that the pastor probably only had seven sermons. I do not know if that was fair.

He told me that when I got up to preach, he never quite knew where I was going to go with the passage.

To be honest, I did not know if it was a compliment. BUT I took it as one.

Since then I have discovered that dynamism in delivery is related to discovery in study, as one comes with the energy of wanting to share something discovered.

Preaching #48

It seems that for some preachers the “gold standard” is “expository” preaching.

I know what I mean by that term, I know what John Stott meant by that term, I also know what Haddon Robinson meant by that term.

I also know that I do not mean what some other people seem to mean although they say it out loud as though it is “self-evident.”

I also know that what they then do does not actually tie up with what they say they actually do since what follows is actually thematic.

So how do you use it or understand the term “expository preaching?”

Before you answer say it out loud in a serious voice.

Preaching #47

“I cannot support any party, ideology, religion, moral order and so on that delegitimizes my full humanity in the human order. It is the height of injustice and an insult to demand that the maligned support those that question and deny their fully humanity.”

Frank A Thomas, How to Preach a Dangerous Sermon, xxxii.