I love to watch dynamic communicators and discover new ways to sharpen my own communication skills. In fact, the Preaching Donkey ideal is that all of us, no matter how skilled we are (or think we are), can always improve. This week we’re going to look into the communication secrets of one of the most dynamic communicators alive today.
Craig Groeschel’s Communication Secrets
Craig Groeschel, the pastor of Life.Church, has always inspired me to be a better communicator. I’ve watched him preach for over 15 years and have seen his church grow from when I first heard of them in 2001 when they had a mere two campuses and only like five or six thousand people (I know, I know, infancy stage) to 26 locations in eight states and over 100,000 people attending weekly.
Their growth is the result of a combination of God’s blessings, dynamic leadership, a crystal clear vision, laser focus and out-of-the-box marketing strategies. But, it would be difficult to imagine their numeric growth without the compelling communication of Craig Groeschel. He has championed the vision, delivered the majority of messages, and has been the face and voice of the church since inception.
All that to say, when it comes to a point leader like Craig, I want to know the secrets behind the success. For years I’ve watched what he does when he preaches (body language, mannerisms, movements, teaching methods), but until now I’ve never heard him speak about why he does what he does. I always just knew that it works. It works so well. When he speaks, people listen, and it’s not by accident. He’s thought through exactly what he says, how people receive it, and how to keep their attention through the entire message.
For those of us who want to communicate better as preachers, we should be paying attention to Craig Groeschel—especially when he gives the secret sauce behind what he does. In the most recent two episodes of the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast, he talks about how to sharpen your communication skills.
In Part one, he focuses on the way to approach communication from a mindset perspective. Among other helpful insights, he discusses the idea that each time we speak we should be clear about what we want people to know, what we want them to feel and what we want them to do. (I discuss this same idea and other helpful communication principles in the book Preaching Killer Sermons). Here is part one:
In Part two, he gets very practical about how he approaches communication. He discusses the different hats you choose to wear as a communicator and how the hat you choose is determined by how you want the recipient to feel. He also talks about the intentional way he approaches movements, apparel, body language, mannerisms and expression. Here is part two:
What did you discover in these videos? Anything you plan to put into practice?
This article about communication secrets originally appeared here.
