Tips for Good Presentations, Public Speaking and maybe sermons

McCrindle Research has released the top 5 tips for conference presentations for 2014.....

Now if we are to be effective in sharing the Gospel to people, maybe some of these are worth thinking about and thinking how can we can contextual these for sermons and other Christian presentations....

1.   Conferences are going TED-style:
a. Speak to the audience not at the audience (free yourself from the lectern)
b. Present your message not your outline (minimise your notes)
c. Don’t give a long speech, craft an engaging presentation (shorter can be more impacting than longer).

2.  Keep it visual:
a. It’s a presentation to be seen not a podcast to be downloaded
b. Use slides as visual reinforcing of your point not a written summary of your content.
c. Think images not just words. .

3.  Ensure it’s evidence-based:
a. The average business audience has twice as many university graduates today as 1990
b. Statistics are great- but so are case studies
c. In a world of hype- keep it real, relevant and responsive.

4.  Deliver current, contextual and customised content:
a. In a world of emerging trends- make sure it is now
b. In a world of ideas- keep it practical
c. In a world of global ideas- apply it to the local.

5.  Motivate even if you’re not a motivational speaker:
a. A positive message will always be better received than a negative one
b. Sure- be provocative and challenging but deliver it with warmth and encouragement

c. Ensure you both equip the head and engage the heart of your listener.

Think about which of these apply to sermon proclamation and which was are less likely to apply.   This is not about watering down the message but about thinking how can we more effectively proclaim the Gospel to people today!!!

Book for preaching: Giving Blood by Leonard Sweet

A Groundbreaking Resource for Preaching If the church wishes to converse effectively with a culture, it must learn the culture's language. Today, shifts in technology mean that language is increasingly one of symbols and metaphors, stories and images---not words. So what does this mean for the sermon, that long-standing, word-based tradition of Christianity? In this ground-breaking resource, bestselling author Leonard Sweet offers an alternative to traditional models of preaching, one that is fitting to a new culture and a new mode of thinking. The first book of its kind to move preaching beyond its pulpit-centric fixation and toward more interactive, participatory modes of communication, Sweet presents both a challenge and a path forward for a church struggling to maintain its relevance in a post-modern, media-saturated culture.

Chapters include:
Part 1:  Introductory words from the LAB

• Under the Microscope Preaching in a Google World
• Blood and Water - Narraphor - Narrative and Metaphor
• Blood Work - Making Narraphors EPIC

Part 2:   A+ Positive Prep

• Blood Stream Scriptures
• Blood types and blood screening - Deduction, Induction, Abduction and Transduction

Part 3:  B+  Body Building

• Blood Flow -  bicameral preaching
• Blood Cells - Organic Architecture
• Blood bank - Narrative and Metaphor = Narraphor
• Blood Enriching Nutrients - Style and twist
• Blood and Guts - Passion
• Blood Pumping EPICitivites - Pumping up preaching with Apps
• Blood Thinners - the role of humour

Part 4:  AB+ Going live

• Blood Supply - incarnation and culture
• Blood Transfusion - Infusing creativity
• Blood donors - congregational interplay
• Blood drives - the closure of altar and after calls
• Blood vessels - Sacramentality
• Blood Chills and Thrills - Impact and delivery

Part 5 Dealing with Negatives

• Blood Clots - the preachers block
• Blood feuds and blood baths - handling criticism
• Blood Hematoma - avoiding bruising
• Blood pressure -  the nervous preacher
• Blood doping and bad blood - false props and bad leads
• Blood poisoning - dealing with heresies

Part 6 O Homiletic Miscellany  

• Red blood realities -  the preacher's humility and humanity
• Blood ties - learning from peers and relationships with colleagues
• Blood Testing - interpreting effect and response

Part 7 LAB to LIFE

• Life Blood -  food for the body
• Giving Blood - Salvation and ressurection

Reviews 

Frank Viola - a fresh paradigm for preaching

AMAZON Reviews

Public Domain Hymn Resources

Public Domain Hymns offers:

• Powerpoint Sheet Music
• Powerpoint Lyrics
• Midi files 
• Finale (2002) files

for many public domain hymns

visit http://www.pdhymns.com/ to gain free access to these resources

Action Bible - Easter Story FREE kindle book

The Action Bible Easter Story is a great way to share the Easter Story with kids who are familiar with illustrations from Marvel and DC Comics...  
Sergio Cariello an illustrator with Marvel and DC Comics brings the story of Jesus to life. 

This is a great resource for parents and churches to help children know about the miracle of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection using this tool. 

Congregations why not let your members know about this great tool to help the young people in your church engage with the Easter story through a tool they are familiar with...

Whether you have a kindle, an ipad or android or you only use the web...using the relevant free kindle apps...you can obtain this ebook for free for a short period of time before Easter 2014...

Apostles Creed in song by Hillsong

Hillsong will be releasing a version of the Apostles Creed in song...This I believe in July at their Hillsong conference, according to an article in the Bible Society of Australia's publication Eternity....http://www.biblesociety.org.au/news/hillsong-song-every-christian-can-sing 

As a side line the quickness of this coming to fruition is something some churches can learn from....in January 2014 John Dickson, an Anglican theologian  wrote on his facebook...
Can someone with real Hillsong contacts please urge their brilliant song writers to put the Apostles Creed to inspiring music?
By March Hillsong were singing this song at the Hillsong Women's Colours Conference, and in July 2014 it will be available for all churches...

The official video

Check out the early release