7 Ways to Bore Your Audience

photo © 2005 Jason Scragz | more info (via: Wylio) It’s every speaker’s worst nightmare. You’re speaking, and you look across the audience, and everybody’s looking dazed. Some are obviously texting. A few are nodding off. And a bunch are writing things down–but you’re pretty sure it doesn’t have anything to do with what you’re [...]

How to Make People Realize They Need to Make a Change

Why do you speak? Think about that question deeply for a moment. Why do you get up in front of a bunch of women and speak? Perhaps some answers might be: I have a story I want to tell. I want to tell them about Jesus. I want to share what God has done. I [...]

Sell the Problem Before the Solution

Remember the “Jesus is the Answer” bumper stickers? They weren’t overly successful at spreading the gospel. People tended to laugh in derision instead. And I really don’t blame them. Because you see you can’t have an answer until you have a question. And that’s so important to remember when we’re speaking: don’t give people the [...]

The Ten Qualities of a Gifted Women’s Speaker

If you’re wondering whether or not God has called you to speaking, here are the ten qualities that I think best define a gifted women’s speaker. I should note that several of these I struggle with–finding time for prayer, for instance. But making this list encourages me to aim higher and rely on God more, [...]

How to Handle the Bible in your Talks

Image via Wikipedia As Christian speakers, we want our talks to centre on God’s word. I’m reminded of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Nevertheless, I think there are right ways and wrong ways to use the [...]

Thinking About Your Audience First

As a writer as well as a speaker, I have been faculty at several writers’ conferences. And as faculty, we often do one-on-one interviews with aspiring writers. One of the hardest things is dealing with people who say some variant of: “God has given me this message, and this is exactly what I’m supposed to [...]

Incorporating Humor into Your Talk

“She laughed. She cried. She came home changed.” That’s what we’re aiming for. We want people to come home changed, and that usually means that we need to appeal to different emotions in your talk. I’ve talked before about the different elements that go into a talk, and the ways in which we can plan [...]

Considering Cultural Differences When Speaking

I’m cold. Really cold. I’m just back from a trip to Regina, Saskatchewan, where I spoke 5 times in three days. Four of the events were at one church (two Christmas women’s events and two church services) and then the other was at a second church for a women’s outreach. It was a rewarding time, [...]

How to Speak Without Notes

Have you ever listened to a sermon, or been present at an event, where the speaker read almost his or her entire talk? We all have. And did you feel engaged? Of course not. Even if it was a good talk, you likely found it boring because the speaker wasn’t making an emotional connection with [...]

Creating Rapport with the Audience

Because speaking is different from teaching, and because our aim is to inspire transformation in some aspect of people’s lives, we have to connect with the audience. If we don’t connect, they won’t feel the need to change in the same way. That’s why I always begin every talk I give with an anecdote, usually [...]