“Begin at the beginning… then go on until the end, then stop.” (Lewis Carroll)
For a shy, withdrawn child like me, entering the minor
seminary in 1962 was like learning to swim by being thrown into the deep end of
the pool. We were not given options in the seminary; we had to participate in
everything – sports, housework, farm work, and a demanding curriculum. You
learned by doing. By my third year in high school, I had grown (15 inches since
8th grade) and my voice was deep and resonant – often described as
“booming.” I began to excel at giving presentations
in class, and realized my natural shyness began to disappear when I was on the
podium, and everyone else was listening to me.
By junior year, I had joined the interscholastic speech
competitions. Most of the students chose to memorize a speech or work of poetry
or drama, and deliver it dozens of times over, every other weekend during the
school year. I felt it was excruciatingly boring to repeat a memorized speech. Even though it was given to a different group
of judges each time, it felt too much like pounding the same point over and
over. And I hated being bored.
So I opted for the category known as “extemporaneous speech” – in
this category, each speaker had to write four different speeches in the same
day. During each weekly tournament, usually held on Saturdays, rather than
giving the same speech twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon, before each session we would pick a topic out
of a hat and have one hour to prepare a 5 to 7 minute speech. This choice of speaking format paid an
enormous benefit – each Saturday during the school year I prepared four different speeches – so my skill at
writing became quite polished.
So before I finished high school, I learned by constant practice the elements of constructing a speech. It sounds so elementary – the speech has a beginning, middle, and end – and, most important of all, it has only one topic sentence. Exactly the same rules apply as to writing an essay in English class. (By now I can already hear the murmurs from readers: Why didn’t MY pastor learn that?)
The introduction both gains the attention of the hearers, and announces the topic. The middle part broadens the topic, using standard techniques – examples, comparison and contrast, putting it in a context, etc. And the conclusion re-focuses the theme, leaving the hearers with one clear, easy to remember point. Simple, simple, simple – “tell them what you’re going to say, say it, then remind them what you said, and sit down.” It amazes me how so many preachers ignore that. While it sounds simple in theory to “stick to the topic,” it actually takes great discipline and practice.
oCath of sienar
intoro- distracting; jokes
omystery – long – is it good?
when I was sitting down; NO when YOU were coming to church == examples
HOMILY
The role of repetition is a key one – how and when to repeat a point. Rarely do people pay attention to something until they have heard it repeated two or three times. Advertisers are totally aware of this. So it is important to CLEARLY state the theme AT LEAST three times. Don’t make the people work more than necessary! But timing is everything. The most memorable parts of a sermon are the beginning and the end – that is why it is so important to clearly state the theme at the beginning and the end.
ojohn 6 – did I do it?
EXAMPLE??
“Begin at the beginning; go on to the end, then stop”
Perhaps it would be better not to asume what readers would think about their pastors. Needs some editing.
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