This is from Andy Stanley's podcast on effective communication (he's also written a book on the subject Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication
). I've heard him talk on communication many times and read his book, but every time I read these simple questions I feel the need to radically change the way I construct my messages.A) What do they need to know? (Information)
- What is the simple idea?
- What is the one thing they need to know?
- What one statement summarizes the message.
B) Why do they need to know it? (The motivation)
- The key developing tension in the introduction
- Give them a reason to listen
- Why should they care?
- Make them beg for the answer to their question
- Show how society has gone wrong and give God's answer to societies problems
- If they aren't convinced they need to know they will consider what you have to say irrelevant
C) What do they need to do? (Application)
- Assign homework
- What can we do to help them do it?
D) Why do they need to do it? (Inspiration)
- What would it look like if everyone in our church did this?
- How can you inspire people to act?
E) What can I do to help them remember? (Memory)
Andy Stanley's book on preaching
"Communicating for a Change" is one of my favorite books.
ReplyDelete"Communicating for a Change" and "Seven Practices of Effective Ministry" are two of the most practical ministry books I've read. The content is just so reasonable and practical.
ReplyDeleteThe strangest part is that most of it feels so obvious. With everything he says, my response is typically, "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?"
You ought to read Aristotle's Rhetoric. It would definitely be profitable.
ReplyDeleteIs there a book on preaching that relies exclusively on Christ's teaching style?
I'll look into Rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of a book on preaching which relies exclusively on Jesus' style. I do know of a book called The Revolutionary Communicator. It deals with his approach to communicating holistically.