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Words To Live By

“…THE MAN THAT HEARS SPEAKS CONSTANTLY.”
(Proverbs 21:28b)

Have a blessed weekend!

Posted on July 12, 2013 | Quote

10 TIPS FOR SPEAKING TO IMPACT LIVES – 4 of 4

Here is the concluding part of this series. Hope you find it useful. Let me have your views and things to add that I might have left out. Let’s go!

#9. BE BRIEF! MAKE IT SHORT AND MEMORABLE.
BREVITY is a key to impactful speeches and sermons. Check it out; the most memorable speeches in history have been known to be very short. I heard it said somewhere several years ago and I have found it to be true from experience: The mind cannot absorb more than the seat can endure! That is so much the truer for this generation that seem to be perpetually plagued by attention deficit disorder (ADD).

I have always believed that it does not take an everlasting sermon to make an everlasting impact. And I read it somewhere that speeches do not have to be long to be great. Short speeches do not have to be long to be important. Long sermons have been known to be short on impact! Great speakers keep it short and simple. It takes a masterful speaker to make complex issues simple. The fool makes simple things complex, all for the sake of being considered profound. Learn to be brief. You can be simple without being simplistic!

#10. NEVER EVER YOU SPEAK WITHOUT THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Acts 1:5, 8; 1 Cor. 2:1-5) Whatever you do, get the ANOINTING. That’s my greatest trade secret! All what I have mentioned earlier (brevity, humor, knowledge, inspiration, passion, integrity etc.) in this particular series will hold no water except you are anointed by the Holy Ghost. This means that above all, you have to get the anointing. An un-anointed preacher is like an unwashed soap salesman – he does not use his own product. He lacks believability. It is the anointing, not human eloquence or oratorical skills that changes people’s lives. It is the anointing that infuses your words with power causing it to impact people positively. So, with all your getting, get the unction! I wish you a blessed and impactful speaking experience. You will succeed!

You may see the previous three posts on this same subject here:
10 Tips for Speaking To Impact Lives (1 of 4)
10 Tips for Speaking To Impact Lives (2 of 4)
10 Tips for Speaking To Impact Lives (3 of 4)

Posted in Bible, Business, Change, Christian Leadership, Church, Confidence, Excellence, Humour, Ideas, Inspiration, Leadership, Mentoring, Ministry, Personal Development, Preaching, Preparation, Skills, Speaking, Talent, Words

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Tags: Bible, courage and confidence, Inspiration, Leadership, memorable speeches, Mentoring, Ministry, Pastors, Preachers, Preaching, Public Speaking, Sermon, Speaking, Words

10 TIPS FOR SPEAKING TO IMPACT LIVES-1

Jul 2

Posted by Yomi Olufiade

Over my last two decades of preaching, teaching and public speaking, I have been privileged to receive loads of positive feedback. People tell me of how they have been blessed, how useful what I’ve shared has been to them and I’ve even gotten to hear many stories of life transformation as a direct result of those speeches and sermons. Thus, there is nowhere I have spoken yet that they have not wanted me back!

This prompted me to ask myself recently, “What is it that I do in speaking to impact lives?” “What suggestions would I have for fellow speakers or a beginner who also want to make a difference in people’s lives?” This is my answer, encoded as it were in these ten (10) points:

#1. Never say what you don’t do.
In the Bible book of Acts, the physician Luke wrote about “All that Jesus began both to do and teach…” (Acts 1:1) This talks of your INTEGRITY as a speaker. Notice he mentions “do” first before “teach”. What you “teach” should come out of what you “do”!

You are actually your message. Your speech becomes hollow and dead on arrival when it is not backed up by your character. Oh! I know a lot of speakers teach fancy things that they don’t do. That’s hypocrisy, but if you want to be impactful as a speaker, your speech and life must match!

See, over the past few years, I have come to know that you cannot take people beyond your own level of experience. What you do is what gives force to what you say. The beloved apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:1-3 that they declare only what they have heard, seen and handled, which is why their ministry was profitable and impactful.

#2. Never speak about what you aren’t passionate about.
This talks about PASSION. I learnt several years back that the day your message moves from a speech to an obsession is the day you begin to impact lives. As a matter of principle, I never speak about any subject I don’t feel strongly about. John Wesley prayed, “O God, set me on fire that the whole world might come and watch me burn.” If a message is not burning in my heart I don’t teach it!

Passion is contagious. When your message moves you, it will move your audience. The converse is equally true. And without that passion, you can’t change lives.

#3. Never speak to impress people. Focus on making a difference in their lives.
Speak for CHANGE. “How will my discourse benefit my listeners?” This is a question I routinely ask myself whenever I’m opportuned to speak. Of course, I believe in myself and the potency of my message material to influence my listeners positively but ultimately I know that it will be a perennial waste of all of our precious time if all I am focused on is that they be impressed about how good or knowledgeable a speaker I am. That’s why I never aim for esotericism or those pie-in-the-sky kinds of sermons and speeches. I keep it simple. If my five year old son cannot understand what I am talking about, then what in the world am I doing spewing that out of my mouth! Expert speakers make complex things simple while amateurs make the simple complex. Why? He wants to sound ‘deep’ and impressive. But the truth is; it works the other way round. If people can understand you, you will impress them. TO BE CONTINUED