We live in a world obsessed with stories. Every TV show, book, movie, and video game that teenagers spend hours of their day consuming proves that stories are powerful and important to them.
Good stories grab their attention. Stories help them discover a truth for themselves before you directly say it. Just be careful not to tell a story just for the sake of telling stories. Have a point.
4. Be funny.
Are kids laughing? Not at you. With you. You don’t have to be a comedian. You don’t even have to have the best jokes. Just have fun. Teenagers want to laugh. Give them a reason to.
Laughter breaks down the walls of the hard-to-reach students and brings students back for more. Laughter also eases the tension in the room after a few hard words. The best communicators know how to get the audience rolling with laughter one minute and listening intensely the next.
5. Get to the point.
How long do you talk? I don’t buy the idea that messages for teenagers can be only 15 minutes. Teens can sit through a 30- to 40-minute message, but it has to be engaging and keep moving. If you tell a story that takes too long to get to the point, you’ll lose them. If you speak really … slow … the … entire … time, you’ll lose them.
Nothing is worse than listening to a youth pastor ramble for 15 or 20 minutes without ever getting to the point. This is usually a result of poor preparation. After you write the message, relentlessly cut out details that aren’t necessary. Eliminate anything that’s too repetitive. Avoid tangents that distract from the main point.
6. Stay focused.
What’s the big idea? The messages that impact youth the most aren’t the ones where you preach a 52-point sermon on everything they need to know about life. The best messages are laser-focused on one specific point.
Hammer one point until it’s engrained on their foreheads. If you can’t summarize the entire message in a single sentence, you aren’t yet ready to preach it.
7. Provide examples.
Give practical examples throughout the message. Many youth, especially in their early teens, have trouble with abstract thoughts. Teenagers need concrete examples to help them understand what you want them to do. They need specific action items to help them apply the message to everyday life.
If you’re talking about serving, talk about how someone faithfully serves. If you’re talking about loving enemies, give an example of how they can show love to their annoying little brother or the school bully.
Think about their world and give them some simple, practical ideas for how they can apply what they learn.
Checklist for how to preach to youth:
To review, here’s a quick checklist. Ask these questions to evaluate your next youth message:
1. Does anything feel inauthentic?
2. Where will kids interact?
3. What stories am I telling?
4. Is anything funny?
5. Is anything too long, repetitive, or unnecessary?
6. What is the single point of this message?
7. How am I challenging kids to apply this?
