Speaking in Public Effectively

nugget from Richard Bewes’ book, Speaking in Public Effectively. As a preacher, you may not be asked to give your testimony so much any more, but perhaps these guidelines might be worth giving to anyone you ask to share a testimony in church.

First, it is a testimony to a Person and what he has done for you.

You are not asked to be on your feet to pay tribute to a book, a Christian, a course or a church that may have helped you, though any of these may legitimately come into the story. But it is Jesus Christ, and what he has so far done for you that you are wanting to focus upon primarily.

Second, it is a testimony and not a mini-sermon that you are giving.

Three and a half minutes is enough – unless you have been invited to speak for longer. The whole style is that of telling a story. It is unwise, then to attempt to do the preacher’s task. Use a text, by all means, if there is something from the Scriptures that has meant a great deal in your spiritual beginnings. But don’t end the testimony by a long exhortation to commitment; that is almost certainly someone else’s job in the proceedings.

Third, it is a testimony and not an essay.

Although it may well be wise to write out, word for word, what you intend to say (this can help you keep to time), have your notes on a small jotting pad or card, rather than on a large, distracting sheet of paper. The whole presentation is essentially one of spontaneity and an impulsive desire to tell. Write it out as you would describe it to your best friend in the chair opposite you.

How many good testimonies end awkwardly with an unnecessary exhortation to commitment? Helpful advice from Richard Bewes.

Actually there are several subjects that preachers are not supposed to talk about, but I’d like to mention one. Briefly. Actually I’d rather not mention it, so I’ll quote somebody else. It’s the issue of “expenses,” aka “petrol money” in some churches, aka “speaking fees,” aka “honoraria.” It’s right that we hesitate to mention this issue since money should not be the motivation of a preacher, but at the same time very few are in a position to totally ignore the issue of finances.

I was just enjoying Richard Bewes’ book Speaking in Public Effectively. In his last chapter he focuses on the travelling speaker. He addresses the unique challenges of travelling to speak, the things you learn to pack, the flexibility that’s needed, the fact that some apparently petty and trivial things can become profoundly significant in the dead of night in an obscure place. Finally, the preaching is done and it’s time to get going on your return journey,

Someone comes up to you wearing specs, and holding a pen and pad. “Could you tell me if you had any expenses?”

In general it’s right to put in a claim, if for no other reason than that the organizers ought to know what the actual costs of their meeting came to. They make an annual budget. They need to know, and so do their successors.

Accept whatever you are given. At times I have been paid with book tokens. You wonder, as you drive away, what the reaction would be at the petrol station, if you leant out of the car window and chirped, “Do you take book tokens here?” But it is all part of the fascinating experience of service, and we learn to take the rough and the smooth together, with equanimity, “not greedy for money, but eager to serve” (1Peter 5:2)

This attitude should govern us all, including those who depend on their speaking for a living. Speakers who become money-conscious should either reform their priorities or leave off speaking. The people who ought to be giving attention to the question of expenses, fees and salaries are the organizing elders. They are the leaders responsible for these matters, and they should, if possible, have business people among them. It is not the concern of the speakers. Never.

I wonder what difference including business people in the discussions of speakers “expenses” might make? Anyway, enough of me quoting someone else, any comments on this issue (feel free to comment “anonymously” on this issue!)