Over my vacation a few weeks ago, I finished reading How To Deliver A TED Talk: Secrets Of The World’s Most Inspiring Presentations by Jeremey Donovan. It’s a short eBook to help speakers with strategies on selecting topics, crafting their message and delivering their talk. If you are a business leader or teaching pastor that has to speak in front of a crowd, I think you will find this to be a helpful, practical resource.
After reviewing my reading highlights, I pulled ten of my favorite quotes to create this list of strategies to help you become a more effective communicator. Here are…
10 Mistakes Teaching Pastors Need to Avoid
1. Sharing the facts without sharing the stories.
“Your stories can inspire others; you just need to learn to share them with full emotional force.” That emotional force comes from sharing stories from your own personal experience.
2. Challenging people to change without explaining why it’s riskier to stay the same.
“To captivate your audience, help them make an enemy of the status quo and see the positive promise of tomorrow that is just out of reach and worth the effort.” As I’ve heard Bill Hybels say, you can’t help people get “there” without explaining why we can’t stay “here.”
3. Failing to offer actionable next steps.
“Inspire your audience with a single idea that either changes the way people think about their world or persuades them to take action.” The best messages do both. Don’t give people knowledge without a plan to apply that new knowledge to their daily lives.
4. Ignoring felt needs.
“Connect with people’s deep rooted needs for belonging, self interest, self-actualization, or hope in the future.” If you don’t connect with where people are, you can’t move them to where God wants them to be.
5. Sharing too many ideas.
“Make your idea viral by encapsulating it in an unforgettable catchphrase that is between three and twelve words … Repeat your catchphrase at least three times during your presentation.” What’s your main message? Create a mantra. Say it. Repeat it. Repeat it again.
