Once a month a group of 6 youth speakers, communicators, and preachers from around the United States gather via conference call for an hour of discussion, training, encouragement, and feedback around the topic of becoming better communicators. Who is this communication-centered group, you ask? The Youth Communicator's Cohort.
On a typical call, we spend about half of our time encouraging a fellow communicator regarding a recently-preached message. The other half of our time is spent discussing a relevant communication-centered topic. This year we have covered topics such as hermeneutics, storytelling, and gestures to name a few.
To hear a snippet of our call from last month click here (approximately 6 minutes in length).
My favorite part of the call each month is the sharpening and encouragement that we provide to one another. As King Solomon so wisely advised, "As iron sharpen iron, so one man sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)
Register today for the Fall '13 YCC... Space is very limited.
You can register by clicking here.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
John Piper on Preaching... 'Nuff Said...
John Piper recently posted an excellent article on the importance of preaching:
John Piper: Preach the Word
"No other pastoral duty should be treated as solemnly and forcefully as this one simple exhortation from the Apostle Paul: Preach the Word."
I am more honored and more happy to be in this role right now than most people can know. I am honored because what we are about here is more important than the installation of a mayor or governor. You will see why in a few minutes. I am happy because I love to be involved in the most important things in the world...
You can read the rest of the article Here....
Thursday, February 28, 2013
5 Places to Find Great Illustrations (Part 3)
Up to this point we have covered two of the five places to find great illustrations:
1. Your own life.
2. Media
Up next we have...
3. The Bible.
No surprise there, right? Think again. You would be surprised at the number of Christian youth speakers/preachers/youth pastors who do not use the Bible. Many will pull a verse out of context here or there to "backup" the life-principle they are trying to teach, but few will actually exegete scripture or illustrate Biblical principles with Bible stories or illustrations.
Jesus himself was the greatest youth communicator ever. He taught the Old Testament law, history, poetry and prophets as the Holy-Spirit-inspired-and-filled Son of God. He was The Word of God. As he spoke to children, teenagers, young adults and religious leaders, He was faithful to the text and intent of the Old Testament authors; moreover, while doing so, He used current stories, parables, and illustrations to help His listeners understand.
Why would we, as we communicate the Word of God to young people, do anything less.
Recently, while speaking on relationships, I used the story of Isaac and Rebekah to illustrate how God is both interested and concerned with who we decide to marry. While it was important for me to share my own experience and story of meeting my wife, it was crucial for the students to see how even in Genesis, God was at work behind the scenes in bringing two people together. Also, any time we can allow the Holy Spirit to use the Scriptures to speak, there is significantly greater power and effectiveness in our preaching.
Be sure to remember to use the Bible when illustrating your messages. If Jesus did it, so should we!
For parts 4 & 5 click here...
1. Your own life.
2. Media
Up next we have...
3. The Bible.
No surprise there, right? Think again. You would be surprised at the number of Christian youth speakers/preachers/youth pastors who do not use the Bible. Many will pull a verse out of context here or there to "backup" the life-principle they are trying to teach, but few will actually exegete scripture or illustrate Biblical principles with Bible stories or illustrations.
Jesus himself was the greatest youth communicator ever. He taught the Old Testament law, history, poetry and prophets as the Holy-Spirit-inspired-and-filled Son of God. He was The Word of God. As he spoke to children, teenagers, young adults and religious leaders, He was faithful to the text and intent of the Old Testament authors; moreover, while doing so, He used current stories, parables, and illustrations to help His listeners understand.
Why would we, as we communicate the Word of God to young people, do anything less.
Recently, while speaking on relationships, I used the story of Isaac and Rebekah to illustrate how God is both interested and concerned with who we decide to marry. While it was important for me to share my own experience and story of meeting my wife, it was crucial for the students to see how even in Genesis, God was at work behind the scenes in bringing two people together. Also, any time we can allow the Holy Spirit to use the Scriptures to speak, there is significantly greater power and effectiveness in our preaching.
Be sure to remember to use the Bible when illustrating your messages. If Jesus did it, so should we!
For parts 4 & 5 click here...
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Are you teaching the Gospel or Moralism/Motivationalism
Thursday, February 21, 2013
5 Places to Find Great Illustrations (Part 2)
Hopefully, if you were not using Evernote to save, store, and file your illustrations, you are now (see the first installment in this series).
Continuing our list of five places to find great illustrations:
2. Media (News, television shows, movies, the Internet)
I combined all of these areas under one umbrella because each of them is readily available via technology. Here's a breakdown of the benefits of each:
NEWS - You can discover up-to-date, real life stories of successes, failures, wins, and losses in life. There are also numerous quotations available from current famous people and the average Joe.
TV SHOWS - Looking for a funny or heart-pounding clip to illustrate a point or open your talk? Look no further. With the advent of the Internet, you can grab almost any scene from any TV show. I have used Seinfeld, Heroes, Lost, and even the Simpsons... Just to name a few.
MOVIES - Similar to the television show illustration, you can illustrate almost any principle and it connects very well with students. A 5-7 minute scene can be very useful in opening your message. it grabs the listeners' attention, draws them in, then leaves them asking themselves, "How are they going to connect this to their message???" Finally, most epic movies are written in the "Hero's Journey" story model which lends itself to great storytelling. Trust me.... Google it. Star Wars anyone?
INTERNET - Quotes, stories, illustrations, scale models, graphics, videos... You get the point. It's all available at your fingertips.
Regardless of which of these forms of media you use to find great illustrations, be sure to save them, store them and file them with whichever method you prefer. The important part is remembering to save them as you come across them. It only takes an extra ten to fifteen seconds or so to copy, paste, and tag an illustration for use.
Read Part 3 here.
Continuing our list of five places to find great illustrations:
2. Media (News, television shows, movies, the Internet)
I combined all of these areas under one umbrella because each of them is readily available via technology. Here's a breakdown of the benefits of each:
NEWS - You can discover up-to-date, real life stories of successes, failures, wins, and losses in life. There are also numerous quotations available from current famous people and the average Joe.
TV SHOWS - Looking for a funny or heart-pounding clip to illustrate a point or open your talk? Look no further. With the advent of the Internet, you can grab almost any scene from any TV show. I have used Seinfeld, Heroes, Lost, and even the Simpsons... Just to name a few.
MOVIES - Similar to the television show illustration, you can illustrate almost any principle and it connects very well with students. A 5-7 minute scene can be very useful in opening your message. it grabs the listeners' attention, draws them in, then leaves them asking themselves, "How are they going to connect this to their message???" Finally, most epic movies are written in the "Hero's Journey" story model which lends itself to great storytelling. Trust me.... Google it. Star Wars anyone?
INTERNET - Quotes, stories, illustrations, scale models, graphics, videos... You get the point. It's all available at your fingertips.
Regardless of which of these forms of media you use to find great illustrations, be sure to save them, store them and file them with whichever method you prefer. The important part is remembering to save them as you come across them. It only takes an extra ten to fifteen seconds or so to copy, paste, and tag an illustration for use.
Read Part 3 here.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
5 Places to Find Great Illustrations (Part 1)
Eighteen years ago I heard a guest lecturer in one of my ministry classes share one of the most helpful tips for preaching, speaking, and communicating that I have ever heard. That lecturer was Dave Stone (who is now the Senior Minister at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY). The tip...
KEEP AN ILLUSTRATION FILE.
To be honest, I have my good days and bad days when it comes to collecting and saving illustrations. There are times when I find and save at least one illustration per day; then, there are other times when I will go weeks and not intentionally collect any illustrations whatsoever.
Today happens to be a good day.
Before I begin sharing the 5 places, if you have not done so already, you need to come up with a system to collect, save, and subsequently file all of your stories, illustrations, quotes, news clippings, etc. It used to be we would use file folders, a filing bin, or filing drawers; however, now we have the luxury of technology (cue trumpet fanfare)...
It's called Evernote. Evernote is the youth communicator's best friend. If you haven't begun using it to collect, store, and organize your illustrations, you may want to strongly consider it.
Here are 5 places to find GREAT illustrations:
1. Your own life.
YOU have more illustrations and stories than you can count... Trust me. The key is to write them down and store them somewhere that you can easily access them (ahem... Evernote). Stories about growing up. Stories about victories you have had. Stories about failures and mistakes that you have made. Illustrations about how fixing your car is like... Well, you get the point. If you can spare 30 minutes of thinking time per week to just think about your own life's stories and illustrations, you will be miles ahead of most everyone else.
Read Part 2 here...
KEEP AN ILLUSTRATION FILE.
To be honest, I have my good days and bad days when it comes to collecting and saving illustrations. There are times when I find and save at least one illustration per day; then, there are other times when I will go weeks and not intentionally collect any illustrations whatsoever.
Today happens to be a good day.
Before I begin sharing the 5 places, if you have not done so already, you need to come up with a system to collect, save, and subsequently file all of your stories, illustrations, quotes, news clippings, etc. It used to be we would use file folders, a filing bin, or filing drawers; however, now we have the luxury of technology (cue trumpet fanfare)...
It's called Evernote. Evernote is the youth communicator's best friend. If you haven't begun using it to collect, store, and organize your illustrations, you may want to strongly consider it.
Here are 5 places to find GREAT illustrations:
1. Your own life.
YOU have more illustrations and stories than you can count... Trust me. The key is to write them down and store them somewhere that you can easily access them (ahem... Evernote). Stories about growing up. Stories about victories you have had. Stories about failures and mistakes that you have made. Illustrations about how fixing your car is like... Well, you get the point. If you can spare 30 minutes of thinking time per week to just think about your own life's stories and illustrations, you will be miles ahead of most everyone else.
Read Part 2 here...
Friday, February 1, 2013
3 tips from the pros for speaking to youth
While recently coaching an up-and-coming youth communicator, I was reminded of three simple tips that professional youth speakers use when crafting and rehearsing their messages:
1. The 7-7-7 rule...
Students today have been accustomed to media that is divided into seven-minute chunks that are separated by two to three minutes of commercials each. As youth speakers, it is wise to build our messages in a similar fashion; seven minutes of contents separated by little "commercial breaks" in which we build in an audience interaction, a humorous story, or something else that breaks up the monotony of listening to someone addressing the group for 30 minutes.
2. Story is key.
We must not only incorporate the telling a story in our talk, but we must strive to ensure that our overall message works as a story (beginning, middle, end). More importantly, we must continually ask ourselves, "What is the story that God is desiring to tell through this message?" Jesus taught through stories and parables, so should we!
3. Rehearse it until you own it.
Rehearsing and practicing our messages sometimes feels silly. We can easily be tempted into thinking that we will just depend on our natural ability to be spontaneous or be "led by the Spirit" in the moment. However, the danger with this kind of thinking is that we don't end up "owning" our content and we come across as less-than-credible, not believable, or just look unprepared and lazy. It is more than worth every minute of preparation and practice when our delivery is as impactful as possible. Rehearse everything if you can... Blocking, gestures, telling your stories, reading scripture, facial expressions, etc. You, and especially the students listening to you, will not regret it.
The speaker I was coaching happens to be one of the college-aged interns in our student ministry. This was going to be the first time she had presented to our group as a whole. She knew she had something worthwhile to say and that the students needed to hear. Prior to speaking she was as nervous as could be, but she put these few tips into practice and did an amazing job!
1. The 7-7-7 rule...
Students today have been accustomed to media that is divided into seven-minute chunks that are separated by two to three minutes of commercials each. As youth speakers, it is wise to build our messages in a similar fashion; seven minutes of contents separated by little "commercial breaks" in which we build in an audience interaction, a humorous story, or something else that breaks up the monotony of listening to someone addressing the group for 30 minutes.
2. Story is key.
We must not only incorporate the telling a story in our talk, but we must strive to ensure that our overall message works as a story (beginning, middle, end). More importantly, we must continually ask ourselves, "What is the story that God is desiring to tell through this message?" Jesus taught through stories and parables, so should we!
3. Rehearse it until you own it.
Rehearsing and practicing our messages sometimes feels silly. We can easily be tempted into thinking that we will just depend on our natural ability to be spontaneous or be "led by the Spirit" in the moment. However, the danger with this kind of thinking is that we don't end up "owning" our content and we come across as less-than-credible, not believable, or just look unprepared and lazy. It is more than worth every minute of preparation and practice when our delivery is as impactful as possible. Rehearse everything if you can... Blocking, gestures, telling your stories, reading scripture, facial expressions, etc. You, and especially the students listening to you, will not regret it.
The speaker I was coaching happens to be one of the college-aged interns in our student ministry. This was going to be the first time she had presented to our group as a whole. She knew she had something worthwhile to say and that the students needed to hear. Prior to speaking she was as nervous as could be, but she put these few tips into practice and did an amazing job!
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