Add Details to Make Your Sermon Illustrations Sticky

I mentioned last week in the Pastors Today e-newsletter that I have recently completed studying a book called Made to Stick by brothers Dan and Chip Heath.

One element that I've been applying is their recommendation to include "specific details" when telling a story. They say that it helps people to visualize the situation you are describing and makes the story more "credible" or believable.

For instance, this past Sunday our worship service used the sports theme "Game Day Central" since we were kicking off our Vacation Bible School. I was sharing a personal illustration during my sermon about a football player that lived next door to us. As I told the story, I purposefully used concrete details in my story.

Instead of saying, "Rocky drove up into his driveway," I said, "Rocky drove up in his Blue 1973 Fastback Mustang." Instead of merely saying he was a football player I added the following details, "Rocky is 6 foot 4 inches and 245 pounds and has red hair and freckles." (For my International pastors, that's 193 centimeters and 111 Kilograms.)

You can imagine how those details helped the listeners visualize what I was describing and also made my story more believable. I encourage you to try this in your next sermon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should We Anoint the Sick with Oil Today?

Image
I'm not sure where you stand on this issue. Anointing with oil is not part of my normal practice. Bruce Grubbs, the senior pastor at the church where I serve part-time on staff ( Gladeville Baptist ) does this on a regular basis and I think it's very cool. I posted a new article on this subject by Pastor Harold Dinsmore in the Pastors Area of LifeWay.com. Pastor Dinsmore believes we are missing a great opportunity if we don't choose to offer the anointing of oil when we pray for the sick. He offers his reasoning as well as five things to consider should you choose to do this. Read Should We Anoint the Sick with Oil Today?
Read more

How to do a group brainstorming session

Pastor, when we are trying to plan a new sermon series, promote an event, or solve a problem, here's the group brainstorming process we follow (Michael Eubanks, our Pastor for New Generations brought this process back from a conference). We pull together a team of five to eight creative types with different perspectives and give them an overview of what we're trying to get to. We then distribute a stack of 3x5 cards to each person and give them about ten minutes to write as many creative ideas as they can (one simple phrase on each card). We then gather the cards and begin reading them and taping them to a wall in categories. Be sure to capture this treasure of ideas on paper to help you in further planning. Also, give options to your team for participating in the implementation of the ideas. It's a great opportunity to train and equip other leaders. You'll love the results. When you're going through the process, be sure to keep in mind Osborn'
Read more

Preaching through the Bible in a Year - 2 Plans!

Image
I'm reading through the Bible again this year using George Guthrie's Reading God's Story: A Chronological Daily Bible plan. In 2011, our entire church used the reading plan in response to the Radical sermon and small group series we did at the end of 2010. I'm was delighted to see Aaron Linne's Blog post about a new online resource with lists of sermons inspired by the Read the Bible for Life initiative. These lists from B&H Publishing are designed so that you can take a church through the Bible in a year. They currently have a plan prepared by David Platt (52 sermons) and Chuck Maxwell (50 sermons). Check the tabs at the top to switch between the two lists. Access the complimentary lists of sermons here ... Learn how to use this resource on your iPhone, Android, or tablet here ...
Read more