This summer will be the fifth anniversary of my first sermon/talk/message.  I have come so far from that place and learned so much. I am incredibly grateful for the friends who gently coached me, the authors who challenged me, the teammates who encouraged me, and the people who allowed God to speak through me into their lives.

So, what have I learned since that summer chapel in 2004?  

1. When in doubt, go short instead of long. I have never heard anyone complaining about a message being too short.   Yet, speakers (especially pastors) are notorious for going too long.  If you are worried about your talk going long, cut something that isn’t essential.  Love your audience more than you love your own ideas.

2. Never go short on content.  While I have never heard someone complain about a short talk, I have been disappointed as a listener in a message that was light on content and heavy on filler.   If you are going to request the attention of your audience, it’s up to you to deliver something worthy of their attention (for 5 paragraphs or 30 minutes).

3. Is this one talk or three talks?  One of my biggest mistakes has been cramming two to three talks into one message.  The most important decision a speaker makes is not what to keep in the message, but what to leave on the cutting room floor.  If I need to write three talks, write three and deliver one.  

4. People will remember one point.  I began moving to one point messages in the last 12 months after giving 7-15 point talks!!  It has pushed me as a speaker.  But the current series I have been teaching in at Crash, “The Joshua Generation”, has been the first series where I have been able to repeat all my “Big Ideas” weeks after my talks.  It has also been the first series where I have interacted with people who have owned the Big Ideas and repeated them verbatim back to me weeks later.  Focus the message.

5. Repeat your one point.  Many people try the one-point approach.  But the problem is their point is not repeatable or memorable.  If you cannot repeat your one point three times in a row without it getting old, you need a new point.  If you cannot remember your point without looking at your notes for several hours, then you haven’t owned it and are struggling with making it memorable.  Repeat your one point throughout the message to reinforce it as you move through your content. 

See you tomorrow for lessons 6-10.

-Scott