Yesterday we addressed the uncomfortable issue of verbal pauses. Uncomfortable for us when we discover we use them. More uncomfortable for listeners when they can’t avoid the fact that we use them! So what to do? Diligently stop ourselves from using them every time they start to spring forth? Perhaps. Maybe electric shock treatment would help. But actually, there are other ways to cut down on such imprecision. For a few examples:
Pre-Script your message. When you’ve worked on the wording of something, it will usually come out more effectively even though you aren’t reading it at the time of delivery. You may choose to read your script, of course, but I’ve yet to see that done well. It is often the wording that took some attention that comes out the most effectively when preaching.
Practice preach. What you’ve heard yourself say well will often come out better when under pressure. I don’t see anything wrong with orally running through a message before preaching it. Some people think it somehow unspiritual to do this, but I don’t see the logic. How is working on paper spiritual, but working out loud not? It’s funny how we put so much time into written work for a spoken form of ministry. Running through a message can work wonders in unclogging our thinking, sifting out poor or impossible transitions, and undermining the grip of the verbal pause.
Overcome nervousness. The silly old suggestions you sometimes hear about imagining people naked are silly and out of date. Don’t imagine people naked. It won’t help anything. Nervousness in front of a crowd will affect us all at various times. It is good to know how it influences our delivery (limited vocal range, frozen body movement, facial fixedness, dry mouth, verbal pauses, etc.) Some of these things can be overcome with work. At the same time I think it is very important to pray about preaching so that when you preach your gaze is firmly fixed on the Lord, even as you lovingly concern yourself with the listeners.
Develop your vocabulary. A poor vocabulary will always lean into filler words for assistance. Read widely, learn new words (but be careful not to fall for the ostentatious displays of obscure vocabulary). Precise and accurate speech does not necessitate the use of jargon or technical terminology that is out of the reach of those listening.
What have you found to be helpful in increasing precision?
Biblical Preaching 
A friend observed an annoying style in my speaking a while back, helped me to know what I’d not noticed. It came from overly reading scripts and putting in wierd raises in pitch… seemingly cured by moving from scripts to outlines for a while… seem to be able to speak fine off a script now.
Why Johnny Can’t Preach is useful on the vocab development though… exploring how lack of being literary shows in our preaching.
This is excellent. OK, I have to leave your blog. I could read EVERY SINGLE POST! 🙂
I can vouch for the “running through” approach:
Running through a message can work wonders in unclogging our thinking, sifting out poor or impossible transitions, and undermining the grip of the verbal pause.
I’ve done that a few times and it makes a WORLD of difference for when I get up to teach and preach. But beware, your children will tease you about doing your ‘practice run’ in the basement Saturday or Sunday afternoon. 🙂