Transitional statements are some of the most important, yet most neglected elements in speaking. Without them, you are lost in a jumble of disjointed facts, illustrations, and points — and so is your audience. These transitional statements (indicated on my mind map with the initials T.S.) bring unity, cohesion, and integrity to your talk. Especially important are transitions from your introduction to the body of your talk as well as from any major illustration to its corresponding application. If you don't transition well, your listeners are spending so much time trying to figure out what one part of your talk has to do with another that they miss half of your message. Transitions help your listener stay cued into the organization of your message.
Advertisement
Don't ever assume the connective fiber of your talk is obvious or understood. It may be understood in your own mind, but transitional statements help the audience understand the direction in which you want them to go.
Personal and Biblical Illustrations Are Best. While most speakers know the importance of timely illustrations, few consistently offer personal and biblical illustrations, which is unfortunate. Why? Because personal and biblical illustrations are always the best way to give an abstract truth a concrete home in everyday life.
I have nothing against illustrations and anecdotes from books, but I have not found those as effective as using stories from my own life or those of biblical characters. I love to hear speakers talk about their lives, so why would I expect my audience to be any different?
When we allow the audience into our lives to discover that we aren't perfect, we connect more deeply and identify more significantly with them. An important warning here is to emphasize our weaknesses more than our strengths when we use personal illustrations. In other words, don't make yourself the hero of all your stories. Talk about your bad days as well as your good, showing how you have submitted to God in circumstances and have been blessed because of it. In other words, whether you're talking about good times or bad, God is always the hero of the story. His strength, not ours, is the catalyst for change.
As far as biblical illustrations go, you know as well as I do that the Bible is rich with stories that perfectly communicate the love, mercy, and grace of God. God could have had the biblical authors pen a heavy doctrinal dissertation on His historical interaction with humankind, but He didn't. He had them write the stories of their lives and God's faithfulness in spite of their failures. God knew that we would connect in a deeper way with stories, so He used them to communicate His great love for us. We should follow His lead when we teach and preach.
One of my favorite biblical illustrations to contemporize is the David and Goliath story. In one message I said that if a modern-day sports announcer from ESPN had been on the scene when David fought Goliath, it might have sounded like this: "Welcome to the Valley of Elah arena for this afternoon's World Heavyweight Biblical Championship. In this corner, fighting out of the Hebrew camp, standing five feet three and weighing 138 pounds, he is a shepherd, a poet, a musician . . . the Hebrew hillbilly, David! His opponent from Gath stands over nine feet tall, weighs 438 pounds, and has an undefeated record of seventy-two victories — all by decapitation. He is the heavyweight champion of the world: Goliath! Let's get ready to rumble! Sports fans, it is going to be a short bout because Goliath has a four-foot advantage."