Audience Analysis

And I Quote

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

A well-planned, well-placed quote can explode like a firework.  Or it can fall as flat as old lettuce.  How can we make sure that a quote adds something to a message, or a movement within a message?

1. Make sure you are genuinely comfortable with the quote and its author. It is easy to undermine the moment by not knowing the author, or how to pronounce his name, or what the context was for the quote.  This can be particularly significant in a church setting where you would not want to quote certain people unawares.  It s important to know where the quote is from and what was really intended by it.

2. Strive to use quotes from well-known folks. Obscure characters from history, or unknown academics, tend to struggle for effective reception in church circles.  Sometimes it might be better to state that “One leader in the early church said . . .” rather than making people feel ignorant for not recognizing the name of Pseudo-Demoscrates of Alexusalem Minor the Younger.  If the author is not well-known, but the quote is effective, use it anyway, but be sure to check number 4 below.

3. Keep quotes punchy. A long quote is a long quote, but hardly ever an effective quote.  Keep it pithy and punchy so that it has impact.  There is a reason you don’t read your sermon (it doesn’t grab listeners), so don’t expect a long read quote to fair any better!

4. Verbally frame your quote. We shouldn’t pack a message with quotes and anecdotes.  It is better to have one well chosen quote than several that get close to the point.  When you have that one that works so well, that will support or clarify or drive home your point, then don’t waste it.  Don’t let it slip out in your flow of words and get missed by the listeners.  It is better to verbally frame it, to set it up so they are listening for it.  Perhaps pulling a card from your inner pocket or Bible, pausing and then reading it, will work much better than simply saying it from memory.  The goal is not to read, but to make sure listeners hear.  The movement, the visual element and the pause all help to highlight and press bold on your verbal quote.

Quotes can really add something to a message.  Or not. Depends what the quote is and how we use it.

Farms and Financial Institutions

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We know it is important to preach to the people before us.  This means being aware of the culture, but more than that, being aware of their culture.  Within just a few miles of each other you can have four churches, all of the same size and same denomination, maybe even the same age mix, but still be very different churches.

One is in a town centre, where the rot has set in and life is tough.  The people still living in the area are poor and perhaps feeling stuck.  Social issues are at the forefront of peoples’ thoughts because they see it with their own eyes each day, or experience the needs themselves.

Another is in the suburbs of that same town.  The area may be more affluent, although not every suburb is rich-ville.  People live in one place and work in another.  Their jobs are different, their experiences are different, their lives are different than the other church.  Fast paced life under the veneer of relaxed comfort.

Just a couple of miles out of town is a country church.  Perhaps the people are mostly agrarian.  This could mean greater affluence, or it could mean the constant struggle to survive when dictates from on high (i.e. government) undermine all they do.  Life is lived at a different pace.  The suburbs and the town centre, just a few miles away, are a long way culturally.

Three churches, perhaps similar in numbers, beliefs and denominational labels.  But very different people.  As a preacher you want to know your people – farm illustrations don’t work so well for those that rush into town to work in the financial institutions.

But I said there are four churches.  What is the fourth?  Well, this is where it gets complicated for many of us.  You can take any one of the three above and add a commuter dimension.  What if you preach in the inner city, but your people travel in from the suburbs?  What if it is a suburban church, but half your congregation commute from out of town?  Commuter churches are a reality for many of us – a complicating reality that as preachers we have to think through carefully.  I suppose it all comes down to knowing your church – not just knowing what it is, or even where it is, but specifically who it is that sits there when you preach.

45,000 Great Preaching Illustrations

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There are numerous books available that promise to help turn tedious sermons into sizzling and vibrant power-sermons.  You simply look up your theme and then choose one of the collected illustrations, like sprinkling seasoning on a bland dish of food.  These tools can be helpful, but I’d like to point you to the best one of all – 45,000 Great Preaching Illustrations.  This is not available in print, nor on a website.  In fact, you already have it.  Using it will help your messages sizzle with seasoning, rumble with relevance and be energized by engaging with your listeners’ lives.  45,000 Great Preaching Illustrations are before your eyes every day – it is normal life.

Here is a simplified list of sources for illustrations, and the order is deliberate:

1. From the experience of both speaker and listener. This is the place to start.  You know what it is like, so you can describe it well.  They know what it is like, so they can see the image form in their minds.  Highly relevant, excellent source of illustrations (even if it seems mundane – such as getting in the shortest line at the store, and being there the longest!)

2. From the experience of the listener, but learned by you. Perhaps you don’t work in an office with non-believers, but you learn about it and draw illustrations of relevance from there.  If you learn well, then the image will form for the listener and you will seem like a relevant speaker.

3. From your experience, but learned by the listener. You can convey these personal experiences well, but you have to educate in order for them to communicate.  These take more time and will feel less relevant to the listener.  With appropriate vulnerability, these can be worth using for the connection it creates between you (even if the experience is slightly foreign to them).

4. From neither your experience, nor theirs. The pithy anecdote from some character in history, or the “canned” story from your bookshelf.  These often feel canned because they are canned.  If you use one of these, make sure the character in question has some appeal to your listeners, and be sure to look for other ways to be relevant.  The 1500’s or 1700’s may be interesting to some, but it is relevant to none.

Remember, the best illustrations come not from obscure anecdotes or historical mythology, but from the everyday experience of your listeners, so learn to be an observer of normal life – this will help you to touch down in their world as much as possible in your preaching.

Stage 7 – Message Structure

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Once you have defined your message purpose and idea, it is time to strategize. What shape should the message take to maximize the effectiveness of delivering the idea to achieve your purpose? Many people fall into a rut of using the same shape for most sermons – perhaps because it’s what they’ve grown up hearing, or the instruction they received in Bible school honored one shape over others, or even laziness may be a factor. The fact is that there are numerous options for sermon shape.

Will the idea be stated in the introduction (deductive), or only emerge fully toward the end (inductive)? Maybe the idea will emerge at a mid-point, before being supported and applied (inductive/deductive). Will the text be handled in order, or out of order? Will relevance be loaded at the end, or spread throughout the message? Is the idea best conveyed as a subject completed, or would a more united idea allow for greater reinforcement during the message? These are all options, but we mustn’t forget the starting point, the text itself. What form does the text take? How does the genre function and influence the preaching? If it is a narrative, when in the message will you tell the story? If it is poetry, how can your sermon shape avoid dissecting and killing the cumulative power of the imagery? Then you have to ask whether a creative approach, such as preaching in character (first-person), or interactively, or by plotting the entire message will actually augment the message?

Previously on this site I have written much on this subject.  What factors should influence your choice of sermon form – part 1, 2 and 3. It is important to see this decision as your strategy (& part 2). Does the passage shape always determine the message shape? (See also here.) Once you have an outline, how do you write the points, and then evaluate the outline? It’s important to remember that outlines play a support role, they are not to be too prominent. Preachers often misdirect their focus, trying to make the outline memorable. The outline need not show too much, but listeners do need to have confidence that you know where you are going and it is important that they can follow in the text.

For all posts on this stage, please click on Stage 7 – Message Outline, in the menu.

Stage 6 – Message Idea

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One thing is certain in preaching. If your message idea is not clear, then listeners will synthesize and selectively remember. They will subconsciously choose their own highlight, the point that stood out to them, or the illustration they enjoyed the most. It is far better to do the work yourself and then present a clear, well-articulated main idea in the message. You start with the passage idea, remove any historically specific references (like Paul, Timothy, Roman Jail, etc.), take into account your sermon purpose and then look to phrase the message idea in a way that is memorable and relevant to your listeners. It doesn’t have to be an all-star big idea every time (it won’t be), but it is worth putting extra effort in on this one critical sentence. Once you have it, it will be boss of the message shape and the details – the next two stages. It may seem like a lot of work, but working on the idea is well worth the time and effort you put in.

Just recently we had three posts on ideas that stick – if you didn’t see them, check them out here 1, 2 and 3.

Stage 5 – Message Purpose

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The second half of the preparation process is concerned with taking the main idea of the text and forming a sermon that will be relevant and effective for your specific congregation. In the first four stages, the focus was purely on the text, now you have to give significant attention to your listeners. Consequently it is good to do an audience analysis at this stage.

Before you work on the statement of the idea for the message, you have to be clear on your purpose in preaching the message. The purpose of the sermon will influence the phrasing of the idea, the shape of the message and the details (the next three stages). The concern of the preacher, having understood the text, is to communicate effectively – that is, explain and apply the passage. It is not enough to merely explain the passage (a Bible lecture), or to be relevant (a contemporary monologue), you need to do both.  Clearly defining the message purpose will drive you to more effective explanation and relevance.

Previously – Purpose must drive the message design. The need for relevance requires urgent changes in our preaching. There have several posts that highlight the reality that our listeners live in, the reality to which we must be relevant. For instance, we preach to real ordinary people. Effective communication requires that we drop down the ladder of abstraction. We don’t just preach for practical ends, but rather we preach to the heart, but still add practical steps. In our preaching we should demonstrate that we value application. One final point of clarification, relevance and application are related, but they are not twins.

They Make It Look Easy

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This year I was in the States when the Wimbledon tennis championships were taking place.  So I missed the annual spectacle.  I’ve watched it many times.  Not just the tennis on TV, but the resulting tennis in the local courts.  People watch their heroes on TV, the best tennis players in the world.  Then they are inspired to go to the local courts and have a go themselves.  Courts that sit empty for most of the year are always busy the first week of July!  Why?  Because the best make it look easy.  It’s true in tennis, in football, in every sport.

In some ways that is our challenge as preachers.  We have to be the best that we can be.  We have to study exegetical stuff that would never be a bestseller.  We have to wrestle with the complexities of current trends and the complex motivations that move people to think in certain ways.  We have to somehow interact with all levels of social, religious, spiritual and fashionable trends, sometimes at very high levels.  Yet in it all, we have to be careful not to come across as high academics.  It’s tempting to do that.  After all, it’s easier to not translate from erudite verbosity to normal speech.  It’s better for the ego to dazzle and impress our listeners.  But remember the great tennis players.  They make something immensely complex look so easy.

Let’s strive to do the same.  Replace the twelve letter word with a five letter word or a couple of them.  Speak like a compelling communicator rather than a dull lecturing “expert.”  Let’s do the extra work and put aside our egos in order to communicate effectively.  Perhaps then the gospel will be free to access lives with all practicality.  Perhaps then people will rush out to the tennis courts of their lives and apply God’s word for themselves!

Truth Is Still True

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We all know that truth is taking a bashing on many fronts.  The notion of truth is questioned like never before by philosophers as well as the countless pseudo-philosophers excited by a couple of books they have read recently.  The representatives of truth are under scrutiny due to numerous news stories of ship-wrecked integrity.  The security of truth is generally jettisoned as people find their personal security in personal shaped worlds of their own making.  The reliability of truth is continually undermined by “progress” that shows previous pronouncements from scientists and social commentators alike to have been premature at best.  The availability of truth is shaky in a world where access to information is greater than ever, but in-depth study looks much like infomercials or virtual investment scams.

Truth is under attack.  But truth is still true.  You know your audience when you preach next time.  You know how much “apologetic” is needed for the truth that you will preach.  You know what approach will work best for those people at this time in their lives.  But remember this, truth is still true.  When you have studied God’s Word and have a central concept, a main idea, a biblical truth to proclaim, then proclaim it.  State it.  Say it.  Preach it.  Whether or not you choose to tune the apologetic element of the sermon to a high pitch, make sure you state the truth.  In a world of false and flawed claims, truth carries an uncanny attraction.  In a world of false teaching, God desires for the truth to be known.  If you have something true to preach, preach it.  Truth is still true.

Personal Presentation

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When I teach preaching I make only a passing reference to personal presentation. What you wear, how you look, it matters, but it’s kind of a simple issue for me. For one, I don’t think it is an issue worth fighting over or dying for. If a church expects me to wear a tie, I’ll do it. If they prefer casual presentation, I’ll do it. Some may choose to fight for change (usually in the casual direction), I’d rather fight for other issues in pulpit ministry!

Here’s my simple summary of what matters:

Don’t let how you look distract your listeners. Your clothes should match. They should be appropriate for the setting (a tuxedo can be as distracting as shorts in the wrong context!) Be appropriately well-groomed. Don’t wear a dark shirt if you raise your arms while preaching and are likely to sweat. If you happen to be attractive to the opposite gender, don’t dress in a way that might be considered provocative!

Don’t let how you look undermine your credibility. Sloppy clothes or grooming don’t convey a sense of credibility. As much as it depends on you, demonstrate some discipline in regards to what is inside your clothing too.

(Oh, and since we’re getting a bit personal, I try to have breath mints in my pocket too, for the sake of those I chat with afterwards!)

Any tips to add?

The Patriotic Pulpit

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Since many who read this site are in the USA, I’ll take this opportunity to raise the issue of patriotism in the pulpit (4th of July weekend, etc.)  Now I recognize the potential irony since I am writing as an English man on the day when Americans celebrate one of our only military defeats in a long history!  But actually I raise this issue for preachers in every culture.

Some church cultures espouse a very strong patriotism, while others seek to eliminate almost every reference to the country in which they are located.  I don’t want to suggest that there is a right approach.  I do suggest it is an issue worth thinking about (I suppose I’m saying be patriotic on purpose, just like I say use Powerpoint on purpose or cross-reference only if there is a real purpose in doing so, etc.)

When the listeners are thinking about patriotic issues – such as on a holiday weekend, or a day given to remembering those who gave their lives in war, etc. – it makes no sense to pretend otherwise at church.  Hopefully we would refer to a major news incident, so why not a major holiday?  God does not call us to despise our nationality or be unpatriotic.  Yet at the same time He does call us and give us a new citizenship.  During the Olympics I’m definitely British, but in all of life I am Christ’s first and foremost.  I am Christ’s more than I am British or English.  I bring my ethnicity to the unity so wonderfully created in Christ, but I never confuse my ethnicity or nationality with my faith and identity in Christ.

It’s an issue worth thinking about.  Some people think their religion is determined by their passport.  We want to be careful not to encourage such thinking in any visitors to our church on a patriotic day.  Some people may overly esteem their nationality, so that it is held on a par with their faith.  We wouldn’t want to encourage that.  Some people may despise their ethnicity or nationality for various reasons.  Again, let’s not encourage that either.  Somehow we have to be sensitive to the patriotic and the disillusioned, the elderly who fought for our freedom and those that have somehow been hurt or marginalized by that same society.  We have to be sensitive to those with a clear understanding of their true citizenship, and even more to those confused about where home really is.  We want to honor both the diversity in the church and the unity of the church.

I’m patriotic, probably more patriotic than many English people these days.  I’m married to an American and have no problem enjoying their Independence Day (although I have a few one-liners ready if I need them!)  I appreciate good-natured patriotism from any nationality (including the Scottish!)  I just think we need to think through how we approach patriotism in the pulpit.  What do you think?