Communicating for a Change

Communicating for Change

Andy Stanley

Your APPROACH to communication should be shaped by the GOAL of your communication.

• Approach trumps goal.
• Approach is everything in communication.
• Even if the content is right, you cannot be heard if you have the wrong approach.
• How trumps content.
• What is the right APPROACH?

My goal is to INSPIRE people to live their lives as if the God of the Bible is with them.

* What would I do if I were absolutely convinced God was with you?

Matthew 8:10 and Mark 6:6 – both speak of the times Jesus was amazed. BIG faith and NO faith.

Entice people into the passage, – then roll around it  – then jam ONE simple idea into their heart, not notes, not an outline, one portable idea/truth that can reshape their lives.

Can you say it in “TWITTER PHASE”?

FIVE Questions:

1. Who is this about REALLY? – Is this about me or my audience?

2. What is my BURDEN?

• Dig until you find it.
• The ONE thing.
• ONE point sermons.
• Build everything around it.
• Make it stick.
• The phrase that pays.

3. Where’s the TENSION?

• What QUESTION does this message answer?
• What TENSION does this message resolve?
• What MYSTERY does this message solve?
• What ISSUE does this message address?

4. Do I OWN it?

The best way to internalize a talk is to memorize PIECES not POINTS.

There is a connection between PERCEIVED irrelevance and BOREDOM.

Relevance = Interest

Tension leads to attention.

It’s not about PERSONALITY it’s about PREPARATION.

Picture this person when you prepare:

• Giving church/God one more chance.
• Your unchurched neighbor.
• Your eighteen year old child.
• 35 year old man.

“Give me the 15 second version of your sermon.”

If you preach too long – it’s about YOU and not your audience…you didn’t prepare well enough.

Direction correlation between prep and concentration on your audience.

If you’re Not prepared – you are thinking to hard and not concentrating on your audience.

5. Am I allowing the TEXT to speak?

• Bring your ENERGY to the text.
• Uncover the ENERGY in the text.

Determine your goal.

Choose your approach.

Drive.Communicating for a Change

My Top 10 Books of 2010

1. Church Planter
2. ReWork
3. Doctrine
4. Radical
5. Exponential
6. Making Ideas Happen
7. Generous Justice
8. Entrusted with the Gospel
9. Leaders Who Last
10. No Excuses : The Power of Self-Discipline

 

Books I’m Reading this Summer

Beyond the Final Score

By Tom Osborne

Amazing book by the prolific Nebraska coach and congressman, Tom Osborne. It chronicles his life after retiring as the head football coach of the University of Nebraska. After ending his stellar career of 25 years, including 25 straight bowl games, never less than 9 wins in a season, and 3 national championships, Osborne became a U.S. Congressman and eventually returned as the University’s Athletic Director.

Great stories sprinkled with superb leadership insights.

I think one of my favorite quotes from the book was:

“I can continue to serve the outcomes I desire or choose to serve the people I am called to lead.”

Notes from Leadership Intensive

I spoke for 2 sessions at a Leadership Intensive for Pastors from The River Conference this week.

Here are the notes.

The Heart and Calling of the Leader

Engineering Your Life and Ministry

Principle vs. Purpose

I sent this to my staff team last week:

Principle vs. Preference

As the Lead Pastor I have to be very careful about voicing my opinion. Too often our team, in an effort to please me, will make decisions based on a casual comment I made. Most of the time, I honestly don’t care. It’s just a PREFERENCE. Other times when I make a statement it’s an item I genuinely feel very strong about. It’s a PRINCIPLE, a conviction, a value, or area of organizational culture that I feel must be a certain way in order to maintain our vision and mission. It may even be just a style thing, but it’s the way I want it. It’s a hill to die on for me. And I will tell you.

So in an effort to not drive everyone on our team crazy I would like to build this language into our Leadership Team. Please feel free to ask me “Is this PRINCIPLE or PREFERENCE?”

When it’s just PREFERENCE it truly is your decision to make. When it’s PRINCIPLE that’s the way it will be. However, I’m always open to be challenged about my position or to clarify why I think it should be this way.

In addition we will be developing a Southlink Way document that will outline our PRINCIPLES as best we can identify today. It will be a living, continuously developing document being added to as we learn and grow.

I love you all and can’t imagine doing this without you.

Consumed by the Call,

Scotty