Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication

Summary: This is the book every preacher should read This book has transformed the way I preach and teach. I wish I had this book when I started preaching, and from now on I will recommend it to anyone exploring a calling to preach. It starts off with a creative story that gets the main learning points into your head easily. Then the second half of the book explains the theory in a bit more detail. This structure really helps to keep the book in your hands. It recommends a basic structure (Me-We-God-You-We) that can be applied to nearly any talk or sermon. It espouses the one-point sermon, which was so refreshing for me. I have grown up on three-point sermons and I was relieved to have someone challenge that idea! "The... problem with preaching points is that it doesn't reflect the world we live in. We don't live our lives by points. We live our lives by emotions. We respond to what we see, taste and feel. So there's no compelling reason to remember points... Even the preacher knows this. That's why he or she has to refer to their notes. They haven't even bothered to memorise their own points." It challenged my style of preaching (basically reading from a script) by explaining the need to "internalise the message". This has really impacted by preparation, and reminded me of the need for my sermons to first speak to me, and then to my audience. When it comes to Scripture, Stanley take us out of our usual "read Scripture - preach - send them home" approach. I have always tried to make the Scriptures more interesting, but the book takes this to the next level: "Make it so fascinating that they are actually tempted to go home and read it on their own." It has significantly raised the bar for my preparation. Stanley shares at the end of the book how he is usually prepared 3 weeks in advance. Not bad for a guy that preaches nearly every week! "It's our preparation and presentation that will keep people engaged" "Communicating for a Change" is the essential guidebook for preachers, whether you are a rookie or an old hat.

To poke the elephant in this "room" right out of the gate: I'd put myself in the category of "highly suspicious" when it comes to Andy Stanley. He's not really a guy I emulate or follow when it comes to ministry. And I read this book after those most unfortunate "unhitch the OT" comments. That said, I'm giving this books five stars. Despite my concerns about the author, I have to be honest about the book: it's really good. As a growing preacher and pastor, it was recommended to be by some older trusted mentors, who, like me, would not typically run in the same tribes as the seeker-pragmatic churches that tend to follow Stanley. That said, this has made a world of difference in evaluating and improving my own communication techniques. You may not agree with everything, but it's really worth the read. I really could not put this book down, which is worth noting considering it's about communication. He simply, engagingly, and winsomely helps "declutter" your mind and effectiveness when it comes to teaching. He truly has a way of exposing some of the clunky ways we justify poor style and communication techniques in the pulpit. Many of us are trapped in our own minds and are trying too hard to prove our intellectual prowess instead of serving our congregations with simplicity and clarity. This book is a really a game changer, read it discerningly, I think he'll actually disarm some of your most powerful excuses. If we keep doing the same things we'll keep getting the same results, but if we want to preach to see change, this is a helpful tool to add to your arsenal.

Andy Stanley is a well-known pastor, author, leader, and communicator. He knows that communicating is both an art and a science. In his book Communicating for a Change, originally published in 2006, Stanley tells his readers about his particular practice of communicating. Every leader will eventually find him or herself in a situation where they will need to communicate their ideas to others. The question they must ask is, "Do I want to communicate or do I want to communicate for a change?" I originally purchased this book years ago when I was just starting out in ministry. I was serving on a church staff and was asked to preach even though I didn't have any experience. Stanley was a communicator that I enjoyed listening to, so I found a copy of Communicating for a Change and began to prepare for my first communicating experience. The book is divided into two parts. The first half is a fictional story about a preacher who finds himself unhappy with his communication. The story is written by one of Stanley's ministry partners, Lane Jones. Honestly, the first half of the book is OK, but the real gold is found in part two. This is where Stanley get's to the nuts and bolts of how he communicates. The key takeaway for most people in this book will be Stanley's preaching outline: Me-We-God-You-We. If you've ever seen Stanley speak, you've probably noticed that he doesn't use a manuscript and rarely uses any notes. The secret to his memorization has been revolutionary for my preaching. Stanley recommends dividing up your sermon or talk into five sections. The "Me" section opens your talk with a personal example that sets up a problem that you're wanting to solve. The first "We" section then draws the audience in by relating to them with real life examples of how they've experienced the same problem. The "God" section is where you go to the Bible and see how the problem is to be solved according to the Scriptures. The "You" section is the personal application challenge to the audience. This is where you drive home what they should do in light of the problem they've experienced and the truth that is found in the Bible. The final "We", my personal favorite, is where you have the audience dream with you. You paint a picture of what could and should be if everyone together obeyed the Scripture in regards to the problem. What would happen if we collectively took a step of obedience in light of what we've seen in the Bible today. I've found this outline to work well in all sorts of preaching environments. It is also effective whether I'm preaching topically or through a book of the Bible. If you're looking for a book that will improve your communication skills so that you audience is not only engaged, but driven to act on what you talk about, be sure to read Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley. Thanks to Waterbrook/Multnomah for publishing such a great book.

I had been looking at ways to improve the structure of my sermons and connecting with the audience and this book gave me much needed advice. I would recommend it to anyone in the same situation and beyond.

Great Book !!!

Keep the congregation engaged and excited about your message on a Sunday by reading this book. It has an amazing strategy for doing so.

I got this book for school, however, since I started a bi-vocational position I found myself reading this book over and over again to hammer down the MWGYW. I tried a few other outlines and it really showed when i spoke. Great job Andy!

This is a must read book. Don't let it go. Get it ASAP