13 Ways to Improve Your Speaking in 2013
Woohoo! Imagine that. Blogging day landed right on the very first day of 2013. I’ve loved the break, but I’m also ready for schedule, structure and the pleasure of work again. I hope you had a great Christmas and that you’re ready to jump into the new year.
I’m not a big believer in resolutions, but I love the book Rachel Olsen and her pastor wrote together urging us to choose One Word of focus each year.
If you haven’t adopted a word yet, I’d love to suggest SHARPEN as one to consider. It can apply to so many areas!
Sharpen our hearing when God is speaking.
Sharpen our ability to build relationships.
Sharpen our desire to approach our work with excellence.
Sharpen our skills as speakers!
Last year I shared some tips for improving your speaking in the new year. Here’s the new and improved list for 2013.
1. Spend a day (or as much time as you can carve out) in a quiet place with just your Bible and a journal. Worship, pray and read God’s Word. Ask Him to speak to you about His agenda for you for the year. Read this blog post for more details about a retreat with Jesus.
2. Pray before you speak, “Lord, help me to love you first and love these women as you love them.” Watch your focus change and your nerves subside.
3. Prayerfully lay aside a percentage of each of your speaking fees for reinvestment back into your ministry.
4. Purchase a book that will challenge you in your speaking and implement at least one new idea in your next message. We’ve got some great suggestions in our reading list on the sidebar!
5. Schedule time each week to work on your speaking ministry–studying, writing new messages or working on marketing tasks.
6. Prayerfully choose 12 of Tracie’s marketing ideas, and implement one each month this year.
7. Attend She Speaks. It’s a feast for your mind and soul!
8. Be open to all kinds of venues for speaking, and speak as often as possible. Pray for chances to share God’s message and exercise your “speaking muscle”.
9. Record yourself (digital recorders are worth the investment) or ask to be recorded each time you speak. Then listen to yourself! I know it’s excruciating, but you’ll identify more needs for improvement by doing this than by any other single thing. Video is even better (worse?). Watching yourself will alert you to areas that need work.
10. Subscribe to blogs that will give you information about being a better speaker and getting the word out about your ministry. We’d love for you to subscribe here, of course! We also have additional information posted on our Facebook page. Also, I recommend Micheal Hyatt’s blog as well as signing up for Rob Eager’s Monday Morning Marketing Tips.
11. Listen to great speakers and analyze the structure of their messages. There are tons of free podcasts. A few of my favorites are any of my Proverbs 31 sisters, Jennifer Rothschild, Andy Stanley and Ravi Zacharias.
12. Purchase the recordings of Next Step Speaker Service’s group calls. There’s tons of valuable information in each one! We also invite you to be part of our 2013 calls.
13. And last but not least…use Next Step Speaker Services to help you individually with message development, message evaluation or developing marketing pieces. Learn more about our service by viewing this video.
Happy New Year, friends!
Great tips, Amy! In 2013, I’m going to focus on my speaking more. I’ve found it helpful to watch other speakers on Youtube and study the format of their messages. It’s helped me learn which message styles work for me and which don’t.