Delivery

Getting Specific Delivery Feedback – Part 1

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

A great message prepared is not job done.  As preachers we also have to deliver the message.  There are some aspects of poor delivery that only others can point out.  Periodically ask a handful of listeners to look for specific things in your delivery.  The feedback may be uncomfortable, but it is worth it for the improvement in your preaching.

1. Voice – The enemy of delivery is monotony.  Have somebody listen to your voice and note how much you vary the pitch (up and down), the pace (fast and slow), the punch (stronger and weaker), the use of pause (stop and start), and so on.

2. Verbal Pause – It is great to pause on purpose, but verbal pauses really grate on your listeners.  It could be an “ummm” or a redundant word like, well, uh, “like” or the popular Christian filler “just really.”  Whatever you do to fill those gaps in the flow, find out and then eliminate them. 

3. Gesture – Are your gestures varied, consistent with what you are saying, big enough for the audience, natural?  You may discover that you have a dead arm, or a repetitive movement, or a bizarre mannerism.  Find out, then you can deal with it.

4. Eye Contact – Your eyes are so important they are worthy of their own observer.  Have someone watch your eyes.  Are you looking at the people, or past the people?  Are you looking at the people or at your notes?  Are you looking at all the people, or do you have blind spots?  If you use notes, and are really up for a shock, have someone time how long you are looking at your audience rather than your notes.  The result of this might convince you to try no notes!

Is Your Preaching in a Rut?

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

It is easy to settle into a pattern of the familiar and comfortable.  We do this in all areas of life: same breakfast cereal, same choice in the restaurant, same type of movie, same store for clothes.  It is natural and usually not a problem.  But once in a while it is good to vary things.  A different salad dressing, one of those new deli sandwiches on the menu, a thriller or rom-com instead of the usual _______ (fill in the blank).  In the same way, in our preaching it is easy to get into a rut.  Perhaps it’s time to challenge yourself with something fresh:

1. Different kind of text: I don’t mean preaching from a different “holy book.”  Perhaps you find yourself always preaching epistles, or Old Testament narratives, or stories from the gospels.  Schedule something different – one of the other three above, or a Psalm, a Proverb, a Prophet.

2. Different shape of sermon: It’s easy to always preach deductively (main idea up front), or inductively (just the theme or subject up front, the main idea emerging at the end).  When the text allows for it, try the other one, or an inductive-deductive outline.  Perhaps your sermons are always a list of keyword points?  Try preaching a one-point message.

3. Different type of sermon: When was the last time you preached first-person?  Loads of options – you can be the writer, a character, an implied character.  You can visit your listeners today, or have them travel through time and visit you back then.  You can preach the whole sermon in character, or part of a sermon.  You can use costume, props or neither one.

4. Different props in delivery: If you’re used to taking a manuscript into the pulpit, try abbreviated notes.  If you’re into notes, try no notes (see earlier posts on how to do this).  If you usually project something on a screen, try turning it off and having people look at you instead.

5. Different preaching logistics: If you always preach from behind a pulpit, try removing the pulpit, or move out from behind it.  Perhaps stand on a different level, or even sit on a high stool (if it suits the sermon). 

A change is as good as a rest.  You will benefit from getting out of the rut, and you may find your people listen more attentively too!

Snapshot or Replay?

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Van Harn presents a helpful analogy for us (Preacher, Can You Hear Us Listening, p53).  When you preach a biblical text, do you preach a snapshot or a replay?  Sports journalists use both.  Immediately after a key moment in a game, the replays kick in.  The moment can be savored, the action understood and the intensity felt.  The next morning a snapshot is placed on the sports pages.  It brings back memories of the action, but it is not the same.  A snapshot is a two-dimensional, frozen representation of an event that took place.  A replay is a moving image, perhaps from various carefully chosen angles, perhaps with slow motion, all intended to bring you into the moment of the action.

The text is technically a frozen image of the action, but we should be sensitive to the dynamic nature of the written text.  As preachers we need to do more than give a snapshot of the biblical story.  Rather we should seek to let our listeners enter into it as we choose careful angles and appropriate commentary alongside slow motion replays.  A sermon should not be a mere lecture of facts, but an entrance into the dynamic reality of a living text.

We must engage the text as literature, plot, story, history and record.  We must meet the listeners in the heart, the mind, the imagination, the conscience, and the will.  Effective preaching involves more than recitation of facts, it requires us to purposefully engage both the text and the listeners at multiple levels.

Manipulation in Proclamation

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As preachers we are called to do more than inform the mind.  We are not lecturers.  We are not called to achieve a stated goal by any means possible.  We are not salesmen.  So how are we to navigate the pulpit so that we fulfill our calling, but don’t overstep the mark and take on tasks that are not ours?

1. Preach to the heart.  It is important to understand that people are not just mind and will, but first and foremost are heart-driven.  The Bible teaches this, even with all the gymnastics some teachers go through to avoid what the text says.  The heart is more than mere emotions, but it is not merely the mind as some suggest. In Ephesians 4:17-18 Paul urges the believers not to function like the unsaved Gentiles.  They do not act well because of their minds, thinking, and understanding.  But there is another issue.  Their minds are the way they are because their hearts are hardened.  The heart is central, critical and very much in control.  So, as preachers we must address the heart and not take a short cut to just the mind or will.

2. Don’t stir the emotions and then attach spiritual content to that.  Since the heart includes emotions, it is tempting to merely stir the emotions and then attach our message to that emotional reaction.  You can tell a moving story about the little boy who finally hit a home run (for Brits think of a boy hitting a six), then as people feel themselves filling up, drive home the application of the sermon.  “You too are standing at the plate, Jesus is asking you to commit to this challenge this week, will you commit?  Will you swing the bat?”  This is riding on the back of imported emotion to “achieve” something while preaching.  This is manipulation.

3. Allow the text to reach the heart. The solution is not to merely preach an intellectual sermon and avoid the heart.  The key is to preach the text well so that the text itself and the message of the text can do its job.  If the passage is moving, let it move people.  If the passage is stirring, let it stir people.  When the text itself and the message itself stir the emotions, great.  Don’t feel you have to import a moving story to get the job done.  Make sure that emotions are stirred by the text, the message, the idea itself.

Hey Preacher – You a Prophet or a Priest?

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I’m not using prophet or priest in the full biblical sense.  I appreciate the terminology though as it is easier to remember than the terms I’ve used to teach this same point in the past (so thank you Dave Stone for mentioning this in your seminar in Cambridge):

1. Younger preachers have a tendency to try to be a prophet.  They can be full of zeal and just want to give the bottom line, they want to say it like it is.  God can and does use young preachers with hard-hitting messages (George Verwer comes to mind, who founded Operation Mobilization as a teenager).  However, it is worth pointing out to young preachers that people also need a priest.  As Haddon Robinson says, “for every  ‘you jerk!’ you need ten ‘atta boys!’”

2. Older preachers have a tendency to stay as a pastor and priest.  Having lived the life and built the credibility, some more established preachers hold back from preaching the strong messages people need to hear.  If you’ve lived the life, walked the trail with the Lord for many decades, and if it is the message of the text, then preach it!  Don’t always hold back and protect feelings.

3. People need both “prophet” and “priest.”  Whatever age or stage you are at as a preacher, remember that people are people.  They need comforting, challenging, encouragement and exhortation.  People need the tender care and the tough love of the Great Pastor, so as we preach His Word, let us be sensitive to both the “prophet” and the “priest” elements.  Know the needs of  the people and preach the Word!

Is Application in the Preacher’s Job Description?

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Some people mistakenly suggest that the preacher has to “make the Bible relevant.”  While this suggestion may be well-intentioned, it is unhelpful.  The Bible is relevant.  The preacher has to “demonstrate the Bible’s relevance.”  Expository preaching, by its very nature, includes the task of application.

Some claim that the preacher’s task is merely to explain the Scripture, but the task of application can be left to the Holy Spirit.  I don’t know how many times I heard preachers say, “Now may the Spirit of God apply to our hearts the truth of His word” as a conclusion to a “sermon.”  Hershael York and others have pointed out the inconsistency of this position. 

There is a cultural and historical gap between the then and the now.  Sidney Greidanus refers to four elements of distance between the Bible and today’s listener: time, culture, geography and language.  Whose task is the translation of the Scriptures?  Whose task is the exegesis of the Scriptures?  The Holy Spirit and humans work together in the translation of the Bible into a contemporary language.  The Holy Spirit and the preacher must work together in the accurate exegesis of the passage.  In the same way, both the Holy Spirit and the preacher are involved in the application of the passage. 

The Holy Spirit does work through the Word in the lives of the listeners.  But if the preacher is not also involved in that task, then I suppose we should be more consistent.  Instead of preaching, perhaps we should just read the passage and sit down.  Oh, and we should probably read the passage out in Hebrew or Greek.  Application of the passage is very much in our job description!

Question: Do We Labor Points Too Long?

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Question submitted to the site last week by Peter P:

In the Church today, we find that most preachers preach for 30-60 minutes on one topic or passage. Indeed, many will take a few verses and preach on them at length.

The examples we have in the bible of Jesus’ sermons show a very different way of preaching. He seemed to cover many topics in every sermon. For instance the ‘Sermon on the mount’ covers a range of things but preachers these days tend to just take one section of it and preach for an hour on that section.

Is there any validity, in your opinion, to the idea that we labour points too long and actually ought to cover more in our sermons?

Peter M responds:

Interesting question, thanks for asking it. Someone once said to preachers, “If after ten minutes you haven’t struck oil, stop boring!” Here are a few thoughts on the subject of sermon length, then tomorrow I’ll consider the issue of “covering more” in our sermons.

The solution to poor expository preaching – I usually suggest that preachers are better off focusing more on one passage and one main idea. However, it is fair to say that many preachers do make sermons and sermon points drag on too long! I think uninteresting preaching is a travesty. However, the solution to poor expository preaching is not non-expository preaching, but better expository preaching.

Sermon length – I don’t want to say too much, but a couple of comments may be helpful. I don’t think there is a “correct” sermon length. The local situation is a major factor in this, but another factor is the preacher’s ability. Some people say that people today cannot take a sermon longer than 30 minutes. I think this is a generalization. In reality people can and will do so happily, but only if the preacher is thoroughly engaging and effective. So the length of a sermon will depend on local cultural expectations (try preaching “short” in some non-western cultures!), and on preacher ability. I rarely hear a preacher than can go for an hour effectively, but there are some.

How long should a point be laboured? – My answer would be not at all, but how long should a point be preached? The nature of oral delivery requires a certain amount of time and explanation, as well as restatement, to allow a thought to form in the minds of the listeners. I was taught at least 3-5 minutes. Yet this does not mean five minutes of “labouring.” There are many tools available for communicating a point – statement, restatement, repetition, explanation, support, illustration, application and so on. So there’s no need to labour a point, but effective oral communicators know that it takes lots of planning ahead of time and some time in delivery for a point to truly do its work of forming a clear idea in the listeners’ minds.

Tomorrow I’ll give some thoughts on the example of NT sermons and the amount of content in a sermon.

Why Bother With an Outline?

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

I was recently chatting with a pastor who told me he never writes down an outline in preparation; rather, he just studies hard and then preaches. If it is possible to study a passage and then preach from it without doing an outline, then why bother?

Haddon Robinson teaches that the outline is for the preacher, not the congregation. The benefits of diligently outlining a message are at least four:

1. The unity of the message. You can view your sermon as a whole, and therefore, get a clear picture of its unity. Since an outline is essentially a hierarchical structure, any disconnected elements will not fit comfortably under the headings where they are placed.

2. The logic of the message. An outline clarifies in your mind the logical connection between the parts of your sermon. How does movement one flow into movement two, and why in that order? The outline will demonstrate this (or fail to do so if there is a problem).

3. The order of the message. An outline crystallizes the order of the ideas so that you can give them to your listeners in the appropriate sequence.

4. The flesh of the message. You will be able to recognize places in your sermon that require additional supporting material. Or you may see that your supporting material is all clumped together in one section, while other cupboards are bare.

Preaching First-Person: 5 Essential Questions

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I am no expert on first-person (in character) preaching. However, when I have preached in this way I have had very positive feedback. Here are some basic questions I ask myself before preaching in this way.

1. Which character? It can be a character explicitly involved in a passage, or an implied character (an observer of the events).

2. Who is traveling through time? Is the character coming to today to speak to the congregation, or is the congregation going back in time to the historical context of the character?

3. Will I use costume or props? There is no benefit to looking like a child in a Christmas play, but a carefully thought out costume or prop may help the presentation. On the other hand, it may serve as a distraction.

4. Will I conclude in character? Transitioning between character and self is not easy, but applying the message in character is also not easy . . . so who will drive the message home? The character, me, or someone else?

5. Is this a true sermon? Preaching in character is no excuse for sloppy preaching. The message still needs solid exegesis, a definite main idea, clearly defined purpose and relevance to my listeners. Preaching first-person must never be less work than a normal sermon. It takes the normal preparation, plus a lot of extra work.

Make Your Sermon Sizzle!

/ Peter Mead / 7 Comments

There is one of you, and lots of them. So in your desire to be relevant to as many listeners as possible, perhaps you tend to speak in general terms. Don’t.

Remember that generalities are as gripping as generic goods in a grocery store. Specifics sizzle. When you describe a Biblical scene, or an applicational situation, or an illustration, be as specific as possible. When you are specific, then listeners will be able to see, feel and experience. Do it well and your sermon will sizzle.

Galli and Larson, in Preaching that Connects, agree, “Being specific means saying Luger, rather than weapon; ’89 Taurus, rather than vehicle; adultery rather than sin; the nails through Christ’s palms, rather than Christ’s sufferings; Bob, the 45-year-old, overweight Chicago detective with the scar on the back of his hand, rather than officer.” (Obviously, be specific in the cultural language of your listeners.)

Like generic own label products in the supermarket – generalities are easy to find, they cost us little and they do a job. But they are bland and uninspiring. If a sermon was a meal you took many hours to prepare, you would want it to sizzle. Be specific.

Peter has responded to comments on this post – see comments.