Twenty Questions Which Will Make You a Better Communicator

Whether you're a preacher or give business presentations, the essentials of communication are the same: (1) Content, (2) Clarity, and (3) Connection.  To effectively communicate, you need all three elements.  Here are twenty questions that will help you sort through content, package it in a way which is clear, and connect with the audience from start to finish.

Content

Content is the raw information you're trying to communicate.  The content is what makes the communication actually matter.

1. [KEY QUESTION] What is the one thing the audience MUST walk away with?
2. Are you answering a question that the audience is asking?
3. Do you have any useful information?
4. What information do you want to communicate?
5. What is the least important information in your presentation?
6. What information do you need to remind the audience of during your talk?

Clear / Clarity

Clarity addresses whether the content is communicated in a way in which the audience can understand. Clarity is when you package the content in an way the audience can receive it.

1. [KEY QUESTION]  Are you building bridges from their current understanding to the new information you're presenting?  Or, are you expecting them to simply understand the new information?
2. Are you literally speaking clearly? Is the environment so loud and distracting that they can't hear you?
3. Have you stopped to consider where the audience is currently at in their understanding of the subject?
4. What is the one thing the audience must understand?
5. What does your audience need to understand before they can understand your talk?
6. Are your illustrations, examples, and stories relatable to the audience?  Do you have to explain your illustrations to the audience? (HINT: If they don't naturally understand an illustration, it's not a good illustration for that audience)
7. Are you giving them so much information that they will be overwhelmed? 

Connect

Connection deals with whether or not you are holding the audience's attention.  You may have great content, packaged in a way the audience can understand, but -- if they're not listening, you're not communicating. 

1. [KEY QUESTION] Why should the audience continue to pay attention to anything you're about to say?
2. How can you hook the audience from the beginning?
3. How can you build a tension in your introduction which will lead the audience to keep listening?
4. When is it absolutely crucial that your audience is paying attention?
5. What elements in the environment will be a hinderance to you keeping their attention?
6. When in your talk/presentation/sermon are you most likely to lose their attention?
7. What are you doing to engage people with a variety of learning styles?