Saturday, October 12, 2013

Campfire Experiences


Have you ever been around a campfire with a group of friends? Each takes turns excitedly recounting their activities throughout the day. What happens if someone forgets what they were about to say or makes a mistake about some detail? Usually it is handled in good-natured fun and everyone laughs, even the person relating their experience—it may not even phase them. Even if it does, they quickly gets over it and continue.

In contrast, what happens when you are in front of the congregation giving a speech (talk, discourse)? When you stumble over your words, do you get embarrassed, apologetic, maybe even freeze?

Why should the second scenario be any different than the first? Maybe you are the only one placing such formal importance on the second scenario. The congregation surely is not reacting so critically. You are surrounded by friends that care.

That is the message/lesson I’d like you to take away from this. Dismiss the perceived formality from you mind when you are speaking publically. Instead, view it as friends around a campfire and everyone enjoying the interaction. This is actually one of the secrets of great speakers. Although they may have butterflies the same as the next person, they know that the more at ease they present themselves, the more at ease the audience will be. So yes, view your speeches in the congregation as if you are in a campfire setting, enthusiastically relating the information to friends that love your company. One way to carry this out is to turn your speeches into story-telling sessions by using appropriate illustrations that help your audience to visualize the information.

Longer article here


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