James Henley

5 ideas to make your talk stand out

Every day, the people we lead are bombarded by thousands of advertising messages, videos, images and news items from different sources all competing for their attention. This makes the art of communicating with an audience or congregation that much more difficult and that much more exciting, as we need to find new ways to engage with people.

Here’s five ideas I’ve pulled together over the last few years for delivering a sermon, talk or presentation that people really engage with.

One of the key ideas I learned from my time studying Youth Work and Theology was the idea that different people have different learning styles - meaning they prefer to learn in different ways. The more I began to think outside the box, the more I’ve that there’s a real art to delivering ideas in a way that don’t just inform people, but also excite them, motivate them, encourage them, empower them and move them emotionally.

As I’ve invested more and more in my own ability to preach and teach, and gained more experience, I began to collect together different hooks and quirky ideas that have helped me to deliver talks that hopefully have really engaged with my audience.

Here are five ideas that I’ve drawn from different sources or found out myself from experience:

1. Bookend your talk with a compelling story
Tell the beginning of the story in your introduction, leave your listeners in suspense, and then conclude your talk by finishing the story.

2. Build your talk around one powerful metaphor/image
Find a powerful image and build the rest of your material around it. For example: ‘Trust God to hold you up when things get tough, like a climber trusts their harness.’

3. Use a refrain
One short, simple phrase repeated throughout the talk For instance: ’I have a dream’ or one of mine ‘You have everything you need right now to be happy’.

4. Don’t reveal your main point until the very end
Keep your audience in suspense, leading them through different questions, bible passages and building ideas together until a eureka moment at the end when it all comes together.

5. Use a prop
Use something physical to surprise your audience and engage them. In the past, I’ve used or seen used a lantern, dog food, candle, ceramic pig, chair and all sorts of other random props.

What different methods do you use / could you use to really engage with the people you’re communicating with?