5 Evernote Tips for Youth Pastors (Youth Communicator Productivity Ninja Secret for August)

Youth pastors live extremely busy lives.

One of the greatest productivity ninja secrets for youth pastors and youth speakers is Evernote. Here are a few great ideas of how you can use Evernote to streamline your productivity as an effective youth communicator:

1. Illustration file.

Clip potential illustrations to Evernote for future use: Quotes, stories, anecdotes, scripture, video links, pdf, kindle quotes, the list goes on and on. If its on the internet, you can clip it to Evernote.

2. Message archive.

You can store all of your old message outlines on Evernote for future reference. Better yet, you can also save links to other great messages you come across for future reference as well.

3. Remember names and faces.

Evernote offers an additional app called "Hello" which will help you memorize names and faces of new students that you meet each week. When the student shows up to youth group a week or two later, you can call them by their first name (from memory) and now they will connect with you even more when you get up to teach the group.

4. To-do lists.

Many youth pastors are notorious for forgetting the details. Use Evernote to create a to-do list as you think of things on the fly (you can send a text or short email to Evernote and it will add the item to your list).

5. Travel file.

Need to keep all of the information for an upcoming trip in one place? Use Evernote to create a folder  to keep all of your important receipts, itinerary, and other trip-related details in one place, organized and at your fingertips.

4 Easy Steps to an Engaging Message Outline

When you are teaching the Bible to students, there is an age-old method (made famous by Lawrence Richards) that is quick and easy to use in a pinch. It is known by the name: Hook, Book, Look, Took (HBLT).

HOOK

Use an opening illustration or story to draw the students into the text of Scripture. It can be funny, serious, exciting or even dramatic in nature.

BOOK

Have the students open the Bible and examine what the text actually says. This is when you would share other historical or commentary-based information as well as any supplemental scriptures.

LOOK

Ask the students what the text spoke to those to whom it was written? What was the Holy Spirit's intent when the scripture what written? Also, as you look at your life, what does the text speak to you?

TOOK

Finally, summarize (or have the students summarize) what practical application this scripture has on their life for today. What can they "take away" from this study of this text in particular?

These four steps work great for small group leaders, Sunday School teachers and one-on-one mentoring. If you find yourself teaching up in front of a large group of students (because the scheduled youth speaker is home sick), use HBLT to put together a quick study of the scriptures.

If you need to remember the acronym, just think "I'll Have- a- BLT"

If you have more time to prepare a message, try using these 10 Steps to Developing and Delivering Solid Messages.

Ready to become famous?

Beginning in September, Youth Speaker's Coach will highlight a new youth pastor or youth speaker every month for our "Youth Speaker Coaching Video of the Month."

If you would like to submit your speaking video for consideration, just fill out this form. If your speaking video is selected for review, we will embed a copy on our website along with our feedback, comments, encouragements and suggestions.

To submit a message video for consideration CLICK HERE...