Youth Speaker's Coach recently had the honor of sitting down with student ministry veteran, Josh Griffin. Josh is the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA and author of the student ministry blog, More Than Dodgeball. We spent more than an hour discussing tips, tricks, and tools to becoming a more effective communicator to students. Here are some helpful and practical excerpts from that interview:
Youth Speaker's Coach (YSC): How do you study and prepare leading up to your weekend message?
Josh Griffin: I use a team approach in preparing and refining my message. Here's how it looks during the week before I speak:
I spend time on Mondays studying the text and beginning to put my outline together.
On Tuesdays, I put the finishing touches on my rough draft manuscript, then I send it out to a team of people for their feedback and input. That team usually includes a volunteer youth leader, a student, a fellow staff member and a communicator-in-training. They hack it to pieces, edit, brainstorm creative illustrations that I haven't thought of, and help me say things in a much more effective manner.
By Thursday, I am running through and rehearsing the second draft of my message, timing the message length and memorizing key illustrations and stories.
After delivering the message during our first student service on Saturdays, I sit down with my team and receive feedback on how to make the message even better.
Finally, by our student services on Sunday, I have a well-prepared, student-friendly, Biblically-solid message.
When I started out in student ministry, I was the only person involved in the preparation of messages; now, I wouldn't have it any other way. The team approach not only helps me become a much more effective communicator, but helps the others on the team become much better communicators as well.
YSC: What is one of the most memorable or impactful messages you have ever given and what made it memorable?
Josh Griffin: What comes to mind is actually an illustration I used during the close of one of my messages. We were doing a series about secrets. During the series, a member of my team had come up with the idea of using transparent black light paint to have students write their own on secrets on a back drop we were using on stage. Then, at the close of the message, while the band began to play, our tech crew turned on the black light and all of these secrets showed up behind me.
The Holy Spirit used that moment in a powerful way in the lives of the students in attendance that weekend. We actually had an hour-long line of students after the service who wanted to share their own personal stories and secrets with an adult leader and pray with them.
YSC: What is the Josh Griffin secret Jedi-trick for speaking to youth?
Josh Griffin: Wow, that's a great question! I would have to say this...
If you find yourself going over on time when you speak, you didn't prepare well.
Being well prepared helps both you and your students. It helps you be confident in the message that God has prepared you to deliver and it helps your students because they feel valued that you took the time to prepare the most effective message possible. When you are unprepared, you tend to ramble, babble, and rabbit-trail. This ends up distracting from the message you are trying to give. Make sure that you take the time to prepare, rehearse, and practice your message. No more "Saturday NightSpecials!"
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