1. The Extemporaneous delivery.
2. Learning the extemporaneous delivery
The difference between reading a sermon and preaching freely in an extemporaneous style is a categorical one. When a person reads a sermon manuscript, the sermon sounds and appears wooden and not at all spontaneous. Even if a sermon is memorized word for word or read by a very talented reader, the level of communication cannot be compared to what takes place during an extemporaneous delivery. The reason this is true is because the body and indeed the inner spirit of a preacher seldom come into play when something is read or recited after being memorized.
This can be demonstrated very easily by asking someone to first read a story and then tell the same story in their own words without reading it. If they run-through the story a few times, they will be able to tell it with great feeling and spirit. They will often add things that make the story more personal and interesting. They will also be able to adjust the story to the person they are speaking to because they are now better connected with that person. Most importantly, a unique connection will be made between their body and their words with gestures coming freely and naturally. This is a connection that comes naturally to anyone who try’s it.
Please do the following exercise to demonstrate to yourself the power of extemporaneous speaking.
Find a joke book and read a funny story. Pick one that really strikes you funny and which you can share with others. Make sure it is long enough. A couple of paragraphs will do. Now do the following;
Read the story out of the book to someone
else. (Don't add to it or embellish it in any way.)
Now practice telling the story out loud a
few times so that you can tell the story without reading it.
(Feel free to add to the story and embellish it)
Finally tell the story again to someone
else who has not heard the story.
If all went well you should have noticed several things as you did this exercise.
You should have noticed that -
Simply reading the story was not a very
effective way to share the story. It is too wooden and doesn't
communicate well.
Telling the story out loud a few times
enabled you to tell the story without reading it.
Each time you told the story you added a
little to it. In this way you gave the story your own personal
interpretation and added the force of your own personality to the
story.
As you told the story more freely or
extemporaneously the effectiveness of the story increased
dramatically and the response of those who heard it was much more
positive
If there is a secret to learning how to speak extemporaneously it is the "run-through" process.
It is very important to have a good location for running through our sermon. When considering a location keep the following things in mind.
THE BEST PLACE TO RUN THROUGH A
SERMON IS IN THE PLACE WE WILL BE PREACHING IT. This
means that if the sanctuary or hall in which we normally
preach is available for our run-throughs we should use
this space. If this room is not available to us the next
best thing is a setting that is as similar as possible to
it. For example if our church has a chapel, we may be
able to use this area for our run-throughs. A fellowship
hall or other large room can be set up to simulate the
setting of the sanctuary or hall in which we will be
presenting our sermon. This setting in which we do the
run-throughs is of utmost importance. By being in the
right setting we are able to imagine the congregation to
whom we are speaking. This aids in the development of the
sermon.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE PRIVACY WHILE RUNNING THROUGH OUR
SERMON. We may want to find a time in the day when the
room we intend to use for our run-throughs is available.(It
will take approximately one and one half hours to
complete the run-through process for a 15 to 20 minute
sermon.) If people are milling around in the area it
is a distraction and can make us feel ill at ease. In
today's culture people are not used to seeing their
pastor run-through their sermons. They would never want
to hear a pianist play the piano without rehearsing, but,
somehow, they think it unusual that a preacher needs to
run-through a sermon to do a good job of preaching it.
Until people are educated to the ways of Process
Preaching, we will find it easier to do our run throughs
in relative privacy.
IF A PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM IS
NORMALLY USED WHEN WE ARE PREACHING, IT IS GOOD TO HAVE
IT ON DURING THE RUN-THROUGH PROCESS.
RUN THROUGH THE SERMON ONE PAGE AT
A TIME. The run-through process begins with the
reading of the first page. Once we have read this page
out loud a couple of times we try to speak this part of
the sermon freely without reading what is on the page. We
want to say everything we have written down, but at the
same time we should feel free to use other words and
phrases and to add things where it seems appropriate. If
we need to look at the manuscript occasionally during
this first attempt at being without it, that is fine and
normal. Then we step aside from the lectern where our
manuscript is and speak this first page of the sermon
directly to the imagined audience. (I have a tall
stool I set up next to the pulpit for this purpose so
that I can sit down while doing these run throughs. You
may want to walk around or go down into the congregation
if it makes things more real for you.) After we have run-through the first page of our sermon 3 or 4 times, it should be coming to us quite easily. Of course, the longer we do this kind of preaching the easier this process becomes and the better we become at speaking in this way. Remember, even if you stumble a little, or have to search for words at times, or say something a little awkwardly, that's all right. The fact that we are speaking freely has such a positive effect that even these things that seem like mistakes to us become part of the charm and effectiveness of the communication process.
After we have the first page ready to deliver we go on to the next page and then do both pages together. We do the same thing with pages three and four of our manuscript and then go thorugh the entire sermon at least once at the very end of our run-throughs.
THE CONCLUSION IS EXTREMELY
IMPORTANT. The one part of the sermon during which we
cannot be looking at our notes is our conclusion. For
this reason we want to run-through the conclusion a
number of times. It is also true, however, that this is
the one part of the sermon that seems to come easily at
the actual time of delivery and ends up taking on a real
life of it's own. Many changes are often made during the
moment of delivery to a conclusion. Nevertheless, a
preacher should not rely completely upon the inspiration
of the moment and not work hard on the conclusion. A
combination of several run throughs and being open to
last minute inspiration lends itself best to a dynamic
finish to the sermon. Looking into the eyes of the
congregation during the conclusion is of utmost
importance.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO MARK UP THE
TEXT. It is important to mark up our manuscript to guide
us in our delivery. We may want to use colored
highlighters for this purpose so these things really
stand out. The first thing we will want to mark are the
key words in each paragraph. It is these words that sort
of prime our pump and if we know the important and key
words of a paragraph it is easier to speak the paragraph
freely.
The second thing to mark are the places the sermon naturally breaks. Remember our manuscript is there to help us and even though we are not reading it, the order of our sermon and the ideas for our sermon are all there and are a resource to us when we need them. As I mentioned earlier, we should leave lots of white space when we are writing the manuscript so that we have places to add ideas etc. If we make a number of changes to our manuscript in an early run-through, we may want to make these corrections and then reprint the manuscript.
This is important: We should
always be sure that the final run-throughs are done from
the manuscript we will be using on Sunday morning without
any changes. Otherwise, we will not know where to look
for things on the page when delivering the sermon. It is
surprising how we remember where various parts of the
sermon are located on the manuscript once we have run
through it several times.
DISCLOSING
YOUR REAL SELF
Recently I taught the Process Preaching system to five seminary students at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. I learned many things in the process but the most important thing I learned is how preaching extemporaneously discloses a persons real self.
I only heard these students preach two sermons and yet I felt like I knew them after the class was over in a very personal way. Each student was very different and when they preached extemporaneously their individual personalities came through loud and clear. I now think that this is one of the primary benefits of preaching in this way. If we preach in the extemporaneous mode our congregation will get to know us better then they ever have before. I believe that putting our real self forward in this way whenever we preach will have a powerful effect upon our listeners.
GESTURES
One of the things that I noticed when I first began teaching the process preaching system was how naturally gestures seemed to flow when pastors began to preach freely without reading a manuscript. I first discovered this when I was fast forwarding through a couple of before and after videos of one of my students. In the before video where the student was reading the manuscript the arms, head and torso of the person hardly moved. Then when I was fast forwarding through the recording of this pastors very first process sermon I noticed that he was incredibly animated in his delivery. The difference was so dramatic that the extemporaneous sermon looked like a scene from the old Benny Hill show where many things were done in fast forward.
The process system of delivery unites the body with the mind and the spirit so completely that a persons gestures just come naturally. I have never had to coach a student in how to gesture properly once they have mastered the process system of delivery.
It is possible to read a sermon with power and conviction. Some manuscript preachers are able to add or change a few things as they preach. However, reading a manuscript for most preachers cuts out the opportunity for things to be added during the actual delivery of the sermon. Because we are all inspired by certain situations, not casting a sermon in stone allows us to respond to the Holy Spirits moving us while we are actually delivering a sermon.
It is also true, of course, that the Holy Spirit is with us when we write our manuscript. We rely on the Spirit of God to give us insights and ideas that we put down on the page. However, once this process is over, it is almost as if we leave the Holy Spirit out of things. Being open to the inspiration of the moment as we are in Process Preaching allows more opportunities for the Spirit to work throughout the whole process of preaching.
"This concludes this web site. Thanks for taking the time to visit this site. If you try the Process Preaching system please let me know how it works for you. This Web site is part of the research for my Doctor of Ministry degree. It helps me greatly to get feedback from those who try Process Preaching. If you have questions concerning any process please E-mail your question and I will try to help. I also have a sermon outline flow chart that I will mail to you if you include your mailing address. If you would like to speak with me personally about Process Preaching or be individually instructed by me in this system I can be reached at 612-941-1251 or you may E-mail me at jerlarson@visi.com.
Pastor Jerry Larson
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