'I am a huge proponent in going over your talk out loud before you give it.' -- @DylanJDodson #publicspeaking Click To Tweet

 

2-Minute Tip — Tell a story to Open

 

The beginning of a talk is when you have the maximum audience attention. Don’t squander it welcomes, thank yous, and introductions. Instead, tell a story to engage your audience at the very start.

 

Think about a band coming out on stage. They don’t start with banter. They go right into a big opening number to get everyone excited for the rest of the show. Try the same thing with your audience.

 

You can come back to introductions 3 or 4 minutes in.

 

'Nobody cares how much you know until you tell a story.' -- @DylanJDodson #publicspeaking Click To Tweet

 

Post Tip Discussion: Speaking and Preaching with Dylan Dodson

 

Whether you’re speaking in the secular world or the religious world, the principles behind effective public speaking are the same — define your message, prepare and rehearse your talk, and connect with your audience to ensure the message lands. That’s never more clear than in this conversation with Dylan Dodson.

 

As a pastor, Dylan delivers a different 30 minute sermon every week. To do that effectively takes disciple and a process. He shares his content development process in this chat as we look at how he manages the 6-week development process for each talk he delivers.

 

Storytelling, brevity, making an impact on your audience — it’s all in here. The lessons we talk about this week are as valuable for the corporate conference room or keynote stage as they are for pulpit or altar.

 

Dylan Dodson is the lead pastor of New City Church in Raleigh, NC. where he lives with his wife Christina, daughter Finley, and son Roman. He’s a big sports fan who likes to read and learn, spend time with people, and talks about Jersey Mike’s with anyone who will listen.

'When I first started preaching, speaking in front of people, I was often very nervous, like extremely nervous -- wanted to throw up sometimes, and then once I was speaking, I then I felt great.' -- @DylanJDodson #publicspeaking Click To Tweet

Dylan’s Processes

 

Dylan has a 6-week lead time for each of his sermons. Since he delivers a new one every week, that means there are 6 in various stages of development at any given time. He manages it with this schedule:

 

• T-6 Weeks
  • Work on the message
  • Meet with the rest of the team
  • Outline it on the white board
• T-4 Weeks
  • Meet with the music team
  • Incorporate the announcements for the week
• T-1 Week
  • Go over it 4-5 times
  • Plug in additional stories
  • Make final Tweaks
• T-6 Days
  • Pull the outline and notes out of Google Docs and put them on the whiteboard
  • Begin whittling it down
  • Identify content for slides
• T-5 Days
  • Go over the sermon out loud
  • Cut material
• T-3 Days
  • Finalize the content
  • Review it out loud again
• T-1 Day
  • Review it for 15-20 minutes that evening
• T-1 Hour
  • Arrive early to look and pray over the content a final time
• T-0
  • It’s GO TIME!
    • Or I suppose, it’s GOD TIME!

'A good talk that is shorter in length takes a lot more work than a long talk.' -- @DylanJDodson #publicspeaking Click To Tweet

To make the process more manageable, Dylan also has an outline he uses to build his sermons. To build each one, he asks theses 5 questions:

 

1. What does the congregation need to know?
2. Why do they need to know it?
3. What do they need to do?
4. Why do they need to do it?
5. What is the bottom line I want them to walk away with?

'What's interesting about the outline is it makes my bad sermons better because at least it gives them a direction.' -- @DylanJDodson #publicspeaking Click To Tweet

Links

 

 

'I actually spend more time prepping and going over my sermons and my messages now than I did when we started even though I'm better now.' -- @DylanJDodson #publicspeaking Click To Tweet

Call To Action

 

• Visit the links above to learn more about Dylan, his podcast, or his church
• Try opening your next talk with a story
• Share this episode with your favorite sermon-giver or equivalent and ask their thought by giving them the link http://2minutetalktips.com/dylan
• Subscribe to 2-Minute Talk Tips in your favorite podcast app
• Don’t get best…get better

 

'You could be great for 30 minutes, but if you start putting people to sleep, they're gonna forget everything you said.' -- @DylanJDodson #publicspeaking Click To Tweet