Page 103 - Homiletics I Student Textbook

and shorten causing the voice to get higher. Emphasize certain words and phrases within
the talk to convey their importance and help to add variety.

Pause: Pauses are powerful. They can be used for effect to highlight the preceding
statement or to gain attention before an important message. Listeners have time to
interpret meaning during those few seconds of silence, so have the courage to pause
for a few seconds – dramatic pauses like this convey authority and confidence.

KILL THE TICS!!!

Preachers may develop what we call “tics.” Normally a tic (not tick as pictured to the
right) is something the teacher does or says that distracts from the sermon. We may
snort or blink our eyes of have some other visible behavior that takes the focus away from
what we are saying to our action. This is a physical tic.

Another tic is saying “umm” between sentences or using the same word over and over again. In
California in the US, a certain type of talk was born called “valley talk.” A person that talks that way may
sound something like this:

“I, like, went to the store, like, yesterday. I was, like, looking for some hot dog buns. Can you, like,
believe it? Like, they sell 10 hot dog buns in a wrapper. Like, when you, like, buy hot dogs, they, like,
come in a package of 8. Like, what am I supposed to do with, like, two extra buns?”

Notice the use the word, “like” repeatedly. It literally drives me nuts to hear people talk that way. And
they don’t even notice it!

A pastor can do this in prayers. Our youth pastor used to say God’s name in every sentence. His prayers
went something like this….

“God, we love you, God. And Jehovah, we know you love us too, Jehovah. So, God Almighty, we,
dear God, love you because, Jesus, you first loved us, Almighty God. And Jehovah God, we also
know, God, that you take care of us, God, every day. In the name of almighty Jehovah God, we thank
you for that, God and on and on….” These are called “prayer tics!”

Pretty soon I started counting the number of times he would say God’s name in a prayer. I remember
once, in a 3-minute prayer, he said God’s name about 86 times. Doesn’t he think God knows who he is
praying to? Can you imagine if he were talking to you and said your name 86 times in three minutes?
You would think the guy was crazy!

We must be observant of any tics we may have in our presentation. What may we be doing or saying
that is taking away from the Holy Spirit’s presentation of His Word to the people? We don’t want to get
in the way of God!

A way to find out if you have tics is to get some input from your congregation. Make a few personal
contacts throughout the week and pointedly ask some questions about the sermon. Ask them to be
perfectly honest and that you are trying to find your tics. Pretty soon, you will have lots of ideas that
they will share with you that will give you opportunity to improve your sermons.

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