I've seen student preachers (in years of homiletics classes) run their hands distractedly into their pockets twenty times during a ten‑minute sermon. There is a Presbyterian pastor‑author whose writing I admire much more than his preaching. His preaching comes punctuated by a nervous clearing of his throat. He is a kind of tubercular Demosthenes. His written oration is potentially as pretty as his manuscripts are riveting. Alas, his affectation is so bad that most of us at first want to lend him an inhaler and at last want to hear someone else speak. There is no physical reason for his affectation, and yet one of this intensity is very hard to clear up.
As a young man I was affected by what Edwin Newman (in Strictly Speaking) calls the "y'know" sydrome. During a twenty‑minute sermon I would say "you know" at least fifty times. I finally managed to subdue the bad habit, but it required the utmost in discipline until I achieved it.
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All affectation requires the dividing of the brain into two specific lobes, one of which runs the sermon through the larynx and the other which sits like a school master pointing out when the affectation is inserting itself into your speech. Naturally, it is maddening work, but it must be performed over and over again until the horrible little interrupting demons have all been exorcised.
In my case it required a year of effort to get the "you know" grit out of my speech. I have worked with students on the "uhs" and "ers" of vocalized pauses. I usually count them during a presentation so they will know how pervasive these little interrupters are. I can't keep them from continuing down the trail of affected sermonizing, but I can point out to them that it is their responsibility to take care of their problem or else spend all their preaching careers locked up in poor communication.
Correcting the problem is complicated by passion. If we really want to say what possesses our souls, it is difficult to care about what may at first appear to be trivial. This kind of problem is like a stutterer making a 9‑1‑1 call. The passionate need of the moment seems more important than being understood. But it is not. To cry, "Eric J‑J‑J‑Jones, h‑h‑here! I live at f‑f‑f‑ fifty three f‑f‑f‑forty, th‑th‑th‑Thunderbird Drive and my h‑h‑h‑house is on f‑ f‑f‑fire!" leaves the question of passion versus affectation a begging issue.
In preaching, clear speech and an unaffected delivery is essential to strong persuasion of riveting interest.
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From Preaching: The Art of Narrative Exposition by Calvin Miller. Published by Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Copyright © 2006. Used by permission.
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Calvin A. Miller is Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL. He is a Senior Consulting Editor of Preaching.