How Long Should You Speak?

Have you ever listened to a speaker and thought to yourself, When are they going to be done!?!?

Worse yet, have you ever been the speaker when everyone in the room is thinking that?

Respecting time is a crucial factor when communicating to a room full of students. I don't think if I have ever heard a student say, "That speaker doesn't speak for a long enough duration of time..." Brevity and conciseness can be two very overlooked virtues when communicating.

How do you ensure that you don't get long-winded in your preaching?

1.  Determine how long you have to speak.

If you only have 20 minutes, don't be "that guy" who consistently speaks for 40 minutes and goes way over on your time. It's rude, inconsiderate and disrespectful.

2.  Use the 7-7-7 Rule.

Students have been conditioned by television for 7 minutes of content then a 2 minute "commercial break." Structure your message with this in mind and it will help you say what you need to say in a timely manner and get off the stage.

3.  Figure out what your personal time limit is.

Most decent communicators can hold an audiences attention for 20 minutes. Fewer can hold it for 30 minutes. Very few can hold it for 45 minutes or more. If you are constantly monologuing to your students for an hour, my bet is that they stopped listening to you after 12 minutes.

4.  Practice, practice, practice.

The more you rehearse your talk, the better you will be able to stay within your time frame. As Saddleback Church's Josh Griffin says, "If you find yourself going over in time, you didn't prepare well." Take the time to practice and you will be able to get a much better handle on your content, flow and illustrations. Remember, rehearsal reduces rambling.

A Huge Preaching Disaster

I was speaking at a summer camp and it was "Thursday Night" (you know... the last, most emotionally intense, yet memorable night of the week). Things were progressing along swimmingly. The worship band did a great job leading the students in sincere worship. The students were engaged. It had been a great week on all accounts up to this point. Now I was up to bat. The bases were loaded. Time for the message.

The topic that night was sharing Christ with your friends. A college intern at the camp was going to star with me in an adapted skit we were using at the end of the message.

A very intense skit.

Without going into too much detail, let's just say there was lots of fake blood, Hellish background music and incredibly intense dialogue.

At the end of the skit, I (covered in blood) was giving the challenge for students to take sharing their faith seriously. It was only about a two minute closing... But there was a huge problem. At the most inopportune moment possible, one of the band members' phones began ringing onstage (he had accidentally left in there).

It wasn't just any ringtone.

It was a hideously high-pitched, loud, hyperactive squirrel-type laugh ringtone. And it wouldn't stop.

Talk about ruining the moment.

He eventually came on stage grabbed the phone and apologized. By this point, everyone in the room was laughing (it was a funny sounding ringtone).

Thankfully, God is the one who changes lives... Not us or our feeble efforts. His ministry always flows from His mercy.

Do you have a preaching disaster story?