What Youth & Young Adults Want You To Know About Your Talks

The Case For Growth Part 2: What Your Students Want You To Improve On

I surveyed Eighty-Six students between the ages of 12 to 28 ranging from different churches through Alberta to Ontario. They were asked the following questions: What advice would you give a rookie Pastor on how to keep both you and your first-time-to-church friends engaged in a message? What would you like to see the Pastor do more of or less of in their speaking? Below are the top 10 Responses from the survey. (1. Being the highest number of responses 10. being the least).

1.       HUMOUR –“Humor keeps EVERYONE on their toes, people love listening to comedy, people love to laugh!! I think if humor was incorporated with real life situations along with biblical history and revelation there would be a lot more attentive ears listening to what is coming from the pulpit.”         – Matthew 

2.       RELATABLE – “I think a youth pastor should be willing to stay in touch with youth culture (ex. current video games, celebrities, etc.) and use current language.”– Hunter   Students are wanting advice about topics that are real. They want you to know though they go to church they don’t have it all together and they need help.  

3.       ENGAGING -  Students want to interact with your message. “It’s a long time to just sit and listen” - Cidney.  Texting questions, voting systems, students want activities that get them involved in the message. 

4.       SPEAK FROM THE HEART WITH PASSION AND LOVE.  It’s got to be more than just getting a pay cheque. Your students are looking for speakers who are real, vulnerable, honest  and are totally into what they are doing and enjoy it.

5.       STORIES – “I love to hear their stories as well as stories that relate.” – Kirsten

6.       TIMING -  Not too long. “The most important thing with timing is not to go over.  About 5 minutes before a 25 minute lesson is supposed to end, people start checking out.”  – Jay

 

7.       VISUAL AIDS – Students would like to see more object lesson’s and video’s to illustrate the point. They are memorable and attention grabbing.  

8.       STRONG CONTENT – Don’t forget the Cross and preaching from the Old Testament. Students want to hear something new minus the “Christianese” but at the same time not dumbing things down. “I've heard many a sermon where no Scripture is used! I believe that cutting deep and getting to the heart of things can grab one's attention better than the fluff of jokes and stories.” – Carisse 

9.       PRACTICAL APPLICATION – “I love it when speaking ends with a realistic challenge. Something [we] can do for others, like anonymous encouragement notes in the lockers of classmates, or attitudes that need re-adjusting, or realistic devotional challenges!” – Chelsea

10.   INTEGRITY – “Love the Ways of God. This is something unspoken that we are able to read between the lines” – Sarah The Life you live speaks volumes. Do you believe and live what you say.

Youth Worker, listen to your audience. You want them to bring their friends...then listen to them. For the sake of a generation and God’s desire to reach them, begin to implement some of the above.
We all can grow in the art of public speaking. Do it today, it makes a difference. Whether it’s joining a toastmasters club in your area www.toastmasters.org  or picking up Public Speaking for dummies, or even reading previous blogs as I have address some of the above topics and will do so in upcoming blogs. You may only have one opportunity with a student as you never know what tomorrow holds. My prayer is that students  would know how wide, how high, how deep the love of Jesus is while on your shift. Make that moment count.

A member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) Alison has dedicated her time to developing her gift of Public Speaking so that her listeners would believe the truth that she shares and to raise up other strong youth communicator’s in Canada. She has been speaking full time for four years and is currently enrolled in Youth Speakers University.
Speaking Tips are from Alison’s Public Speaking Enhancement Workshop for any inquires message her today. http://www.inspiringteengreatness.com