Public Speaking Lessons from my Dad

May 2nd, 2014

For those of you who don’t know this already, I’m a preacher’s kid. Yep, my dad’s a retired Presbyterian minister.

I recently found out that two public speaking coaches in the Boulder/Denver region, and two  that I know outside Colorado are also preacher’s kids.

I guess all those years of watching my dad in the pulpit must have somehow rubbed off.

We preacher’s kids really know how to deliver.

My dad is a voracious reader of theology and philosophy and left-wing, democratic-socialist political theory. Whenever I’m with my dad, I can always count on him saying, “Johanna, I’ve got a book I want you to read.” It’s turned into a bit of a family joke, (understatement) because Dad’s always got a book for us to read.

On a recent visit with my Dad, I told him about a Speaker’s Conference I’d been to and gave a critique of some of  the speakers I’d seen.

Guess what my dad said?

“Johanna. I’ve got a book I want you to read.”

This time it wasn’t the whole book, it was just a passage, which he read out loud from “The Heritage of the Reformation” by William Pauck. It was a list of ways that Martin Luther was not a typical preacher.

And I said “Holy Smackers! I gotta send that to my people!”

So here they are–five tips for public speaking from the late 16th century. I’d say they’re very timely, and hold plenty of water for any of us who are speakers today.

Public Speaking Tips from Martin Luther:

1. Communicate your own person, yet without superimposing yourself on the message you want to convey.

2. Let your mind be marked by vivid imagination and sharp observation of men (and women) and nature.

3. Be acquainted with common speech.

4. Find joy in proverbs.

5. Express the whole range of human emotions from awe in the presence of the numinous to the feelings of the body.

Here’s my translation:

1. Be your wonderfully quirky and idiosyncratic self, but remember that it’s not really about YOU. It’s about your audience, and getting the heart of your message across.

2. Pay attention. Notice details. Talk about what you see and know.

3. Speak the way you speak in real life.

4. Tell stories! And have fun telling them!

5. Let your whole body and mind and heart show up on stage with you when you speak. Don’t leave any part of yourself hiding back stage

I bet Martin Luther was a pretty badass preacher. Imagine how badass you’d be if you could really let these tips sink in. Share in the comments below which tip you want to incorporate into your next talk.