Fulfilling the purpose of small groups
I have had the joy of participating in multiple study/community/small groups over the course of my 30+ years as a Christian. For the most part, these weekly gatherings have been a regular boon to my life. They encourage me. They sharpen me. They equip me. I look forward to them.
I say “for the most part” because occasionally the dynamics shift and the benefits are lost (or at least reduced) due to human frailties disrupting the fruitfulness.
Read MoreHow to set your speaking fee (with a free calculator)
It’s one of the most common questions I’m asked by clients: how much should I charge to speak?
For those who are legitimate experts in their fields but don’t earn their living as a professional speaker, setting a fee for speaking outside their organization is understandably difficult.
Price too low and the perceived value of your expertise is diminished.
Price too high and your proposal might be declined.
If you know the amount that’s been budgeted for speaker fees, it’s simple. But speakers don’t usually have access to that information, so we need to account for some variables to arrive at a reasonable starting point for negotiating the fee. We’ll view this from two angles: the event side and the speaker side.
Read MoreHow to become a spiritual grown-up
It’s been a minute since I sat in my mother or father’s lap.
Heck, it’s been a minute since my kids have sat in my lap. (I sure miss those little people; all of mine are over 21 now!)
What on earth does this have to do with anything?
Fair question. Here’s the answer:
Read MoreHow to be a memorable presenter
Quick: what’s the thing you remember most about the last presentation you heard?
Maybe it was yesterday’s company meeting? Last Sunday’s sermon? Or the keynote from a conference you just attended?
What do you recall from the presentation you heard?
I’ll wait while you think. [Cue the Jeopardy theme song, please.]
Despite not being able to hear your answers, I’m willing to wager that—if you remember anything from the last presentation—the reason you remember it is the same reason anyone remembers anything.
Read MoreServing a better master: trading busy for rest
As a business owner, I wear many hats. (Actually, I wear all the hats because I don’t have employees.) Like all of you who work in the home or out in the marketplace or ministry, that means there’s always a task that needs doing.
Always.
So, we continue “doing.” The alluring idea of getting ahead of our tasks list (or merely caught up), coupled with devices that make work accessible anywhere, anytime, causes us to work incessantly. But “ahead” and “caught up” are mirages that elude us from the distant horizon.
Perhaps you, like me, enjoy (or are addicted to?) productivity and relish in goal-setting sessions and achievement—all of which make resting a challenge. Yet an inability to rest and take breaks from work makes for a life equivalent to that of an indentured servant, subject to the masters of
- materialism,
- a need for success (as a “perfect” parent or star performer at work),
- the reputational currency of being busy, or
- the exacting requirements of our managers and bosses.
But God doesn’t want us to be enslaved to anything but righteousness and His love:
Read More6 public speaking lessons from “I have a dream”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was undoubtedly one of the greatest orators in history. Though his legacy is far more encompassing than his speaking proficiency (and we have yet to fully realize his dream), his ability to communicate that dream played an enormous part in the progress made toward it.
His labors were tireless. He spoke often, in one-on-one conversations, smaller groups, and to the masses. Let’s refrain from reducing his effort to merely the most famous of his speeches while also learning what we can from its message (as people) and its content and delivery (as speakers).
Read MoreHow to talk to each other at Christmas
Mary and Joseph. Joseph and Mary. We talk about them like an old married couple.
As two pivotal “characters” in the story of the Bible, we mention both when we reference either, almost as though they’re a single name or unit—which in some ways they are. But we mustn’t forget that they were two distinct and very real people. And their experiences as the humans who raised Jesus were entirely different from the start.
It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that God revealed His astonishing plan to them individually—and in ways that honored that they needed to hear it differently, too.
Read MoreWhat working with a speaker coach says about you
I was utterly surprised. So much so that I didn’t even object to what she’d just said.
I’d been coaching some speakers for an event and the coordinator said the committee planned to acknowledge me at the event but that they’d decided not to mention how I’d been involved. They didn’t want the speakers to be embarrassed that they’d had a coach.
Is working with a speaker coach embarrassing?
Read MoreWhat a little light can do
With the glorious colors of fall also come darker mornings and afternoons. Not having the glow of morning sun to greet us can be difficult for those of us who don’t rise early enough to be greeted by darkness year-round. Even as a morning person (my kids laugh at how early I go to bed!), there’s something defeating about making my way into the kitchen or family room in the dark.
I started using light timers to facilitate an easier entry into my fall and winter days. Though I’d used them for years to automatically turn on lights in the afternoons and evenings, having them click on in the mornings was something new. And I discovered how much I liked feeling the living areas of the house were already “awake” when I entered them.
But there was another—lovely and unexpected—spiritual boon to this electronic tactic I’ve been using…
Read MoreWhy clarity and concision are the keys to impactful public speaking
One might say the 1864 election was determined by the ability to distill a message to its very essence.
Abraham Lincoln was part of a three-way race against George McClellan and John C. Freemont. The electoral vote would be spread across three viable contenders, making each state’s vote critical. And the then-territory of Nevada was set to vote for Lincoln… IF they could become a state in time for the election.
Nevada approved their state constitution on September 7, 1864 and (to insure at least one would be received) sent two copies to Washington, D.C.: one by boat (by way of San Francisco and Panama) and the other by stagecoach and train. The transit time would take between 20 and 25 days. Alas, word came back via telegraph on October 25th that neither missive had reached the capitol.
To be admitted to the union in time for the election—now less than two weeks away—they’d have to transmit the state constitution (175 handwritten pages!) by telegraph.
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