Posts tagged speaking

Catholic

Who has attended a homily that put you to sleep?  What about a talk on Metaphysics that made you depressed?

Now, do you remember that talk that made you feel like “Wow! I understand, I got it, and I am charged up ready to go.”

Practice Makes Perfect

As a Catholic involved in ministry it is important to be a good speaker.  The Holy Spirit will give you the words (as often stated in Scripture), but as laborers in the vineyard we have our own responsibility, too.

That is what is so amazing about the Lord’s will.  He allows us to enter into it and He uses our talents to carry out His message of Salvation.

Point made, don’t be mediocre, be Amazing.

3 Steps to Becoming a Better Speaker

1.  Pray, Pray, Pray

Pray with the scriptures and spend plenty of time with the Lord.  Once you have done that, just do some more.  Yes, it’s that simple, but often overlooked.

2.  Watch and Learn

There are so many excellent speakers who practice what they preach.  Look at the way the stand, talk, use their hands, use notes, dress, tone of their voice, and material.

Glenn Beck does a great job at all of this.  He has mixed WWF Wrestling with politics and come out with a great drink.

Watch his talk at C-PAC and follow along with pen and paper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz2u-xC1FMM

3.  Read and Prepare

Books, articles, blogs, and writing.  Make sure your material is solid and worthwhile.  If your audience isn’t gaining anything, thinking about why they should pay attention.

Practice in front of your kids, family, or mirror.

Know Who You Are

Remember we can’t all be stellar like movie star, but when become the best in our area of expertise.   If you young, talk about young topics and don’t expect to be as good as a polished professional.

If we are older, remember, you are weird to young people, but there are ways to use the “weird” for your benefit.

A good Example of “Old” speaking to “Young” is George Will at the 2010 CPAC Conference.

I first hear this talk on a podcast and thought, “Wow, he has a great ability to mix humor, politics, and figures, and he makes sense.”

His video might not be as good as his plain audio, however, listen to his jokes and delivery.  Excellent.

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