Here is more really helpful information from Dr. Lori Carrell’s book Preaching That Matters:
Sermon communication involves human interaction in which one person speaks and others listen. Quite obviously, preaching is a spoken act involving other people, yet the preparation for that activity is almost solitary and cerebral. My nationwide survey published in 2000 showed that fewer than 1 percent of preachers speak out loud during sermon preparation. Though that percentage has increased slightly in the past decade (especially among pastors seeking professional development), oral crafting of the sermon (talking out loud to bring clarity to ideas as the manuscript or outline is constructed) and oral rehearsal (speaking the sermon out loud start to finish prior to the preaching event) are still exceptionally rare practices among clergy. So, if you think and write in seclusion as you prepare for each publicly spoken sermon, you have lots of company.
In other public speaking contexts, the value of oral rehearsal is not in dispute, and consequently it is commonly recommended and practiced. In one study, my communication colleague Kent Menzel and I asked hundreds of college students at the University of Denver to document their speech preparation process in detail. Over thirty different preparation activities were carefully charted by the participants in that stud. When we analyzed all those types of preparation and the quality of the resulting speeches, only one activity predicted persuasive speech success. Though the speakers expected that time spent finding illustrations, outlining, “going over the speech in my head,” and constructing visual aids would make a significant difference, they were wrong. The one and only preparation activity that predicted success during the persuasive public speech was “oral rehearsal for another person.”
If you think those results are limited to students and would not be the same for experienced professionals—think again. In fact, the research specifically related to sermon preparation and transformative impact is also quite clear. Pastors participating in this study complete a week of communication training that includes receiving feedback from many sources. At the end of that week, they work with their coach to create a plan of action. For those preachers who change their preparation process to include oral crafting and rehearsal of the sermon, statistically significant changes in the transformative quality of their sermons have been documented. And importantly, the addition of oral editing and rehearsal does not increase overall sermon preparation time.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
