I recently spoke in Atlanta at the Whiteboard Session. This is an interesting conference because each speaker has only 15 minutes to speak. I’m a pastor. I’m not used to 15 minutes. In fact, each Sunday I speak for 30 minutes, and most conferences I speak at, I get 45 minutes or even an hour.
It was been fun and challenging to prepare this talk. I’m even wondering if I could do more 15-minute messages on Sunday morning now.
In my preparation, I found this great article that included the ten commandments for Ted Talks.
- Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out Thy Usual Shtick
- Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
- Thou Shalt Reveal Thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
- Thou Shalt Tell a Story
- Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
- Thou Shalt Not Flaunt Thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of Thy Failure as Well as Thy Success.
- Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither Thy Company, Thy Goods, Thy Writings, nor Thy Desparate Need for Funding; Lest Thou Be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
- Thou Shalt Remember All the While: Laughter Is Good.
- Thou Shalt Not Read Thy Speech.
- Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee
I thought these were great tips regardless of whether you preach, teach a Sunday school class, or lead meetings.
So I’ve got two questions today:
1. What other tips would you give those of us who preach/teach on a regular basis?
2. Should sermons in general be shorter or longer?