Prep for Speaking to College Students

My two favorite groups to speak to are college students and those who work with college students.  I have been fortunate the last few years to get to speak for lots of college minister workshops and seminars.  They are my tribe.  I like speaking to college students because I believe that is the sweet spot of ministry.

I call it the sweet spot of ministry because there is no other time that has all the positive possibilities as that age category.  They are young enough to change, if necessary, the whole direction of their life.  They are old enough and in the spot where they are making the decisions that will determine the whole trajectory of their lives.  Wow...what an opportunity!  When I retired from the ministry at Arkansas State University, I no longer was speaking to a large group of students on a weekly basis.  Since I am now in my second year as a College Minister at a church, I am now speaking again to a large group of college students on a weekly basis.

Here are things I have learned again or am reminded of when preparing to speak to students.

1.  There is a fine art to it and therefore it must be done on a continual basis.
I realized quickly that after going a significant period of time not speaking to students on a weekly basis that I was not as good at it.  If we want to speak well to students, we must do it regularly and as often as possible.  Keep at it.

2.  Being with students on a regular basis helps you speak to them more effectively.
College students have a certain vibe and being with them helps you connect to what they are thinking, asking, and needing to hear.  I am occasionally in a setting where I hear very competent preachers speak to students....and the students don't connect to what they have to say on a deep level.  Why?  They are good speakers and prepared.  But, they are not connected to students on a regular basis and their messages don't resonate all the way.

3.  You have to talk it out loud before you present it.
I will confess to having been a Speech Major and even taught speech one semester many years ago.  I am totally committed to the idea that it is necessary to do a talk out loud by yourself BEFORE it is presented to a group of students.  I lock myself in my office and I do the talk standing up exactly as if there were a group of students present.  Here are some reasons:
-Some things I have written down don't sound right when they are said out loud.  Maybe, that is just me...but I think not.  Often that brilliant thing I wrote down or typed out sounds stupid when I say it out loud.
-My fluency is better after having practiced out loud. I am more relaxed in what I have to say and I have found the best words that say the thought.
-Speaking it out loud in practice helps me see the need for better transitions from one point to another.  In preparing, I usually write down my main points and then go back and develop each one.  When speaking it out loud, I am able to see better how to get from one point to the next.

4.  Speaking it out loud gets it more locked into my head.
I am less dependent on my outline when I have practiced it out loud.  It is just more there!

5.  Speaking it out loud helps me have a realistic understanding of how much time the talk will take.
I am sometimes surprised by either the brevity or the length of it.  I just don't know how long it will be until I actually do it.  The shorter the length of time allocated to me means I have to know how long it takes to say it.  Then, I can adjust as need to be to fit the time.  I have been in charge of more than one program where the whole schedule was ruined by one "way over time speaker".

6.  We owe students our best!
How do we challenge students to give their best to the Lord, if we are not giving our best.  Yes, I really do say it out loud.

Arliss Dickerson is the author of five books on college ministry in eBook format for 99 cents each on Amazon.com.  His best selling book is DOING COLLEGE MINISTRY BETTER.