Leadership Journal

When this article appeared in Leadership, exactly a decade ago, readers gave it high marks. Many books and articles on preaching, it seems, are too simple or too complex. Readers told us they appreciated this article by Fred Smith because it applies expert wisdom to the basics. It's uncommonly wise on the common elements of public speaking.

Every summer you can find advertisements for basketball or football camps where big-name stars, for a fee, will instruct young people dreaming of athletic greatness.

I wonder how much actual learning takes place when an all-star quarterback, who spends most of his time reading and outmaneuvering sophisticated defenses, tries to coach a junior-higher who's still trying to figure out how to grip the ball with hands that aren't quite big enough.

Sometimes people learn more, not from the superstars who have long since learned to perform the basics without conscious thought, but from others only slightly further down the road, those who've recently shared the same struggle.

Often, I suspect, a similar effect happens to those who want to achieve superstar poise and eloquence in the pulpit. The key is focusing not on the dazzling techniques but on the fundamentals. Improvement comes from concentrating on the basics until we can perform them without conscious thought. We need to focus on the basics and to find pleasure in the step-by-step advance.

Here are some fundamental areas that I find speakers may overlook as they try to improve.

To a large degree, the atmosphere we establish will determine how effective our sermon is going to be. Atmosphere is created by both our verbal and nonverbal messages.

I hear a lot of preachers, for instance, who are pretty sloppy in their opening comments. Perhaps it's because they haven't thought about them, but the mood they create right from the start makes it tough to benefit from the rest of the sermon.

Most of us know you don't want to start on a negative note. "I hope you all will excuse my voice this morning. I've had a cold all week."

Or "I really appreciate you all coming on a miserable, rainy day like today."

Or "Folks, we just are not getting enough people. When I stand up here and look out at this congregation. . ."

What kind of impression do these introductions make on the listeners? Probably not a good one. You're not starting from their need. You're starting from your need. And that's not the way to fill people with anticipation for the Word you have to give.

This is why I enjoy starting with something like "This has been a wonderful week"—people want to know why it's been wonderful. They've had a lousy week. But there are few weeks for which you can't think up some way it has been good—"I haven't been sued a single time this week." And people laugh.

Or "I haven't had an automobile accident this week, not even a scratch." Little things like that. And then you can say, "No, really. It's been a fine week. I talked to some friends ...