I deeply and passionately believe the grand statement the Bible makes about itself in 2 Timothy 3:16.

 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

“God – breathed” means, what’s there is what God Almighty wanted there.  Using that as a starting point, it is absolutely fascinating to look, not only at WHAT the Bible says, but HOW it says it as a way to learn about connecting.  The Bible is an amazing collage of literary forms; most of which create images in your head. Therefore, sermons and speeches that connect will be laced with word pictures, stories and analogies.

To most effectively communicate:

1. Connect through stories

The Bible includes some of the greatest stories ever told.  Because many of us are over-exposed to Bible stories we overlook just how interesting stories like David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, and Joseph and his “technicolor dreamcoat” really are.  Even when read purely as literature, they are told in a beautiful, admirable, succinct and very connectable way. Why wouldn’t we seek to have the same principle in our messages?

2. Connect through the creative use of language

God must like poetry because the Bible has an awful lot of it.  Poetry, loosely defined, is intentional, measured, creative language.  It is often rich in metaphor and simile.  Job, the book dedicated to life’s most perplexing problem, is written in the form of  an epic poem.  And when you allow yourself to enter in and let the power of the language and wordplay get inside of you, it’s a profound journey.  Why wouldn’t we seek to have the same principle in our messages?

Then there’s the Song of Songs. . . read that piece remembering “all scripture is God breathed.”  It should set you free to explore new paradigms in how you communicate to say the least.

Of course, Jesus spoke in parables, which literally means to “place alongside” (analogy).  In so doing he delivered some of the most enduring stories in World History (think of “The Good Samaritan and “The Prodigal Son”) and gave some of the most memorable mental images (“remove the plank from your own eye”, “build on rock not sand”, etc.). If the God-man used this kind of communication, why wouldn’t we pay attention to the principle?

3. Go through your content and replace the abstract with the concrete.

My definition of “abstract” in this context is:  “does not create a physical picture in people’s minds”.  After I know the core of what I am trying to deliver, if I am preparing well, I will do the hard work of going back through and intentionally thinking of concrete language, analogies and stories to replace language and an approach that is bland or non-picturesque.  This is subtle but powerful.

If you listen carefully you will hear the best communicators do it—even in very small ways.  For example, listening to Andy Stanley once, I heard him say about an introductory thought:  “use this as an on-ramp to. . . “. “On-ramp” replaced “think of this before that” or “my introductory comment is. . . “.  On-ramp works better because: 1) it is physical, 2) it is something his audience knows from everyday life, and 3) it increases the likelihood they will remember what he says – especially the next time they use an on-ramp.

God’s Word communicates in imagery, so should we.

A preacher in England in the 1800’s named Charles Spurgeon is regarded by most (who are familiar with him) as one of the greatest preachers who ever lived. Some call him the greatest who ever lived.  His historical nick-name has become “the Prince of Preachers.”  He gives one of my favorite lines about connection I have ever heard.   In a writing taken from a class he was teaching for young ministers on how to preach, he says (in all of his 19^th Century English flair):

 “You must build your discourses according to the laws of mental architecture.”    

“Mental architecture”. . .  what a descriptive way to say people are designed to think a certain way.    That means people process information according to certain laws and by learned habits formed in language and experience.  That is why, so often (granted, not always) you can have a near unanimous conclusion from a very large audience that someone was a terrible communicator or, conversely, that someone truly delivered.  Because of our “mental architecture” we detect patterns and follow logical flow.

We unconsciously listen for purpose and destination when people speak.

I have noticed that speakers I listen to who really connect have a tremendous sense of destination in their talks.  That doesn’t at all mean they are predictable.  It simply means that you know you are headed somewhere. I remember hearing a preacher a few years ago who impressed me deeply because when he spoke, it was as if he loaded everyone on a train, hit the throttle and dropped everyone off at the promised destination, right on time.  There was a feeling of going on a journey, which included surprises along the way, but avoided wandering.

People’s brains are constructed to disconnect when speakers don’t seem to have a point or they “chase rabbits”.  Have you ever thought to yourself when listening to a speaker, “Is there a point somewhere in our future?!”  Or, have you ever heard someone reach the end and NOT end?   We “feel” it.  Our minds are trained to think that way.

 As communicators we need to stop acting like those rules don’t exist just because we think what we have to say is so important.  If what we are saying is genuinely important we will go to the trouble to “build our discourses according to the laws of mental architecture”.

Last time I talked about following the principles of connecting.

Connection is about starting where your audience is, not where you are.

When communicating, the bottom line is your mission.  The mission of teaching is to create understanding in your hearers.  It is not to show off your knowledge.  So, with that in mind, a good question to ask is: how do people come to understand something?  The easiest way to figure that out is to reflect on how you learn.  We are all different, but a few universal principles remain the same.

One critical principle is:  you cannot learn anything unless you build it from what you already know. 

Nearly every branch of knowledge has its own inside language. Everything from Quantum Physics to football, has its “insider” terminology; which, once you are on the inside, you “get”.  But, it’s a law:  you will not learn the new terms until you first tie them to old terms already in your head.

For example, if you ever look at the language of true Quantum physics, you might as well be looking at Martian. The whole field is very difficult to get your head around and impossible if you don’t know the terms. However, I recently read a book which compared “quanta” to dwarfs in a tiny little house.  And, with that connection, I understood something about Quantum Theory I had not known before.  It clicked.  Why?  The reason is because I already understand dwarfs and tiny houses (being the well informed guy I am).  If the communicator starts with my understanding and terms, he can take me on the journey to the concepts I don’t know.

For me, one of the most revolutionary concepts in all of the Bible on communication are found in Chapter 13 and 14 of Acts. In those chapters you have 2 sermons recorded (13:16-47 and 14:15- 17).  While the same man (the Apostle Paul) preaches both sermons, they are very different from one another.  The reason for the difference is simple but very important:  each was preached to a different audience. To connect with his audience he changes his approach, his emphasis, his imagery, and his language.  In one sermon he quotes the Bible extensively, in another He doesn’t quote it at all. (How’s that for a scandalous thought)?

Since Acts is “God-breathed” scripture, there can be no underestimating the implications of this for those of us who teach and preach the Bible.  To effectively communicate biblical content we have to use the ideas that our audiences already have in their heads.

“Good teachers, leaders, and speakers don’t see themselves as experts with passive audiences they need to impress. . . Instead, they see themselves as guides and focus on helping others learn.”

A professor who was coaching me on how to become a good writer boiled it down to this:  The best way to learn to be a good writer is to read good writing. In the same way, the best way to learn how to be a good speaker is to listen to good speakers.  I love to listen to good speakers.  I maintain that, with all of our entertainment and technology and the amazing communication that happens, a single human being pouring out their heart and life with authenticity and genuine connection is still one of the most effective communication methods on earth.  So, when I listen to people I know are connecting as speakers, I am always asking the question:  Why?  Why am I listening to this person?  Why are they able to keep my attention?   I will study my own mind as I’m listening and ask things like:  If I wandered off and he brought me back, how did he do it?

Next time I will share some observations I’ve made by being a student of others.

What are characteristics you have noticed about speakers who connect well?