Preachers need all the help they can get! That's what this blog is all about - help for preachers. Our time is valuable and we have to digest a lot of information in as an efficient manner as possible. On this blog you will find book reviews, productivity tips, links to bulletin articles, sermon outlines and presentations, and much more to help you in your work of preaching the gospel to save the souls of men.

RR: "Three Techniques to Avoid Being a Boring Writer"

Tue, Apr 21 2009 03:13 | Books, Recommended Reading | Permalink
Here's another "Recommended Reading" post from a great blog for writers, www.WriteToDone.com.

"Three Techniques to Avoid Being a Boring Writer" reviews Sol Stein's book, "Stein on Writing." I don't have the book but after reading this I'll be ordering it today!

When we write bulletin articles and/or blog posts we want people to pay attention to what we're saying. What we're saying is important because it is, or should be, instructing in God's word. But if our presentation is boring and hard to read people will put it down. They will move on to something else and our work will be for naught.

To avoid being a boring writer, Sol Stein's advice is to accelerate the pace. Here are his three tips for accelerated pace in writing:
  • Use short sentences.
  • Use frequent paragraphs.
  • Use jump cuts.
The article at WriteToDone gives some good examples of these techniques. Hope it helps!

Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategiesir

Norm
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What I'm Reading

Tue, Apr 21 2009 08:00 | Recommended Reading | Permalink
Here's a quote from a good book I'm reading right now:

"After more than twenty years of listening to daughters - and doling out antibiotics, antidepressants, and stimulants to girls who have gone without a father's love - I know just how important fathers are."

The book is Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters and I highly recommend it!
Norm
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Recommended Reading: "50 Trigger Words"

Mon, Apr 20 2009 11:17 | Recommended Reading | Permalink
"Mark Twain said the difference between the right word and the almost right word is “the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Twain had an incredible knack for nicely summing it all up, didn’t he?" (50 Trigger Words and Phrases for Powerful Multimedia Content, by Brian Clark).

I've just read "50 Trigger Words," by Brian Clark, from www.CopyBlogger.com. While Mr. Clark is certainly not writing from the perspective of a preacher, or for preachers, I found the article to be very interesting.

There is no doubt that certain words evoke specific emotional reactions. As preachers, our goal is to present a message from God's word in such a way that people will be motivated to respond. Every time we preach we are issuing a call to action. We want our audience to act on the Gospel's call to salvation. We want them to be motivated in maintaining the Christian lifestyle. We want them to be moved to action in the cause of Christ. Knowing the right words to use in the right context cannot but help in our efforts to call people to action.

Again, Mr. Clark is not writing as a preacher or for preachers but the information he presents is certainly helpful to preachers. Read it with this understanding and take from it what is helpful to you in your work of preaching the Gospel.
Norm
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Mind Mapping

Wed, Apr 8 2009 04:01 | Productivity, Helpful Software, Recommended Reading | Permalink

I just finished reading a great article on mind mapping over at one of my favorite productivity blogs, GTD Times.

If you're not familiar with GTD, it refers to David Allen's personal productivity system - Getting Things Done (GTD). I would highly recommend his books, "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" and "Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life."

In his books he talks some about mind mapping, but the article linked above will give you a quick overview of its benefits for planning and brain storming. I've found that if I make my sermon presentations more like a mind map, instead of a linear outline, the audience retains it better.

There are several ways to do your mind mapping, either old school or hight tech. For example, I carry a stack of index cards in my pocket. If I'm not at my computer or don't have access to the net when an idea hits me, I can just take out a card and map it out real quick and dirty. Then I can transfer it to a more permanent media when I'm back at my computer.

Let me recommend a free online app that's good to start out with. Here's a simple example I did with Mindomo.

Hope this is helpful information. Let me know what you think.


Norm
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