Next level communicators don’t stop at saying what they ought to say, they say it as they ought.
Next level communicators don’t stop at saying what they ought to say, they say it as they ought.
That line is not original to me, but comes from Aristotle, without the, “next level,” part, of course. More precisely, the Greek philosopher put it this way, “It is not enough to know what we ought to say; we must also say it as we ought; much help is thus afforded toward producing the right impression of a speech”. Finding just the right line, or turn of a phrase, could be the difference between boring an audience versus inspiring them to action.
This can be a challenge, especially if your job centers around telling ancient truths like the Bible. And yes, the Word of God is powerful in itself, but this does not give preachers license to be bland. Preaching professor, Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs, offers this bit of wisdom to preachers: “We mobilize language and send it into battle against the devil who schemes to make Christians drift from the faith. Vivid language rouses slumbering knowledge, values, and feelings, so that people are remembered to the great truths of the faith. A bland recitation of truth will be met with a shrug and a yawn, so the old, old story must become ‘present’ once again” (Preaching as Reminding, page 66). When we use, “vivid language,” it awakens what lies dormant in our listeners.
Neuroscience would actually agree with Aristotle and Arthurs. There’s data that shows three levels of cognitive engagement:
Level 1: Direct sensory experience.
Level 2: Memory
Level 3: Imagination
Let’s say you have been attacked by a dog. This is a direct, sensory rich event, which evoked a deep reaction from you. You ran, maybe yelled or fought back (or maybe all of the above). As communicators we cannot recreate this experience (Unless you want to bring a dog with you and unleash it on the audience, which I do not recommend!). Some time later, there’s the memory of the event which has happened to you, but our problem as communicators is not everyone we speak to has experienced being attacked by a dog, so what are we to do? We can get to their imagination by using vivid language to create a scene where someone is attacked by a dog. The imagination is the realm we must hang out as conveyors of content. Saying things as they ought to be said means we go beyond simply stating someone was attacked by a dog. Instead, we choose detailed language to paint the scene on the canvas of our audience's mind.
This is what Jonathan Edwards did in his classic sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, as he depicted the picture of hell in horrifying detail,triggering the imaginations of his hearers. This is what John Wesley did in his sermons, as people were known to weep and wail. And when Dr. King finished addressing audiences, many immediately put their lives on the line as they left the church to protest. None of these speakers settled for saying what they ought to say, but they took a few more steps into saying things as they ought.
So how do we do this? Let me offer a few tips:
Don’t overdo it. Too much vivid language will exhaust your audience, and can actually work against the thing you are trying to achieve which is action. You’ll also run the risk of being seen as a performer. C.S. Lewis advised that vivid language appropriately applied will hand the audience a pair of spectacles to see things clearly. Too much will turn us as communicators into a spectacle. I advise using your vivid language on things like your key theme, or a critical point you are looking to make. You may also want to spend some of your vivid language currency on the conclusion.
Take your time. For many communicators, finding the right turn of phrase is really hard work. I know it is for me. I can’t do this on the fly, so I need to finish the first draft of the manuscript and then come back and wordsmith the appropriate point or section of the talk. Often I will need to sit with the manuscript for some time before the right words come. Take your time, this is hard but worthwhile work.
Look for ways to modernize the story. Many of you who subscribe to this newsletter are preachers, and as I’ve already pointed out, our challenge is we deal with ancient texts. One of the ways we can connect these old, but powerful stories, to our audience is to look for ways to modernize the story. If you’re preaching about the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, instead of using the language of “far country,” use, Las Vegas and go from there. Or if you are in Ecclesiastes 4 where Solomon talks about the lonely workaholic, paint the picture of a successful business person, dressed in a custom made suit, seated all alone at some Michelin rated restaurant. We haven’t changed the message nor played games with the text, we just made it more relatable to modern hearers.
