Criswell also made effective use of pause, rate, vocal variation, etc. in his preaching.  His voice would rise to a shout and then fall to a whisper.  These matters of delivery merged with his expository content created an effective combination, like the one-two punch of a skilled pugilist.  

With respect to sermonic structure, Criswell usually maintained the priority of content over structure, with the result that his audience was not “distracted” by overly analytical or artificial outlining.  Criswell violated virtually every homiletical rule in the book when it came to sermon introductions.  In short, he scarcely ever had one!  His sermons began like a vertical leap off the proverbial ledge into the waters below.  Criswell seldom commenced a sermon with the hearers and their context.  Rather, he started with the “then” of the text. 

Perhaps one of the most important points to note about Criswell’s preaching is the correlation of logos, pathos, and ethos to put it in Aristotelian rhetorical terms.  His messages had content, but also his audience viewed him as credentialed, believable and genuine. Indeed, he was to some almost larger than life. His sermons had something drastically lacking in much of contemporary preaching: passion.  Criswell preached to hearts as well as to heads.

Criswell’s own views on preaching can be found primarily in his Guidebook for Pastors. "A sermon is not a theological essay.  It is designed to move the heart and the will of the people as well as to instruct them in the way and in the faith.  A sermon ought to be like the epistles of Paul.  The apostle wrote of great doctrinal truth and teaching, then he closed with wonderful application . . . There are many different kinds of preaching, but the heart of it all is to preach the Christ of the Bible, the Word of God incarnate, spoken and written." 1

Speaking of his early preaching as a young man compared with his later years at First Baptist Church in Dallas, Criswell said: "When I first began to preach as a teenager . . . I preached about whatever fell by chance into my mind.  I preached according to whatever some incident or event or saying would suggest.  That is about as poor a way to prepare a sermon as could be found in all the world . . .   If I had my ministry to do over again, I would from its very beginning preach the Bible and nothing but the Bible.  I would go through book after book of the Bible.  If I could not find a message in a verse, I would take a paragraph.  If I could not find a message that moved my heart in a paragraph, I would take a chapter . . ." 2

Perhaps more than any other single preacher in the last half of the twentieth century, W. A. Criswell has fostered the expositional preaching of the Bible. In addition to his influence as an expositor, from the beginning of his ministry Criswell preached without notes. This choice undoubtedly contributed to his effectiveness in the pulpit and his influence upon many who preach without notes because of his own approach in this area.  Another area of influence was his habit of spending the morning hours in study and sermon preparation at home. He regularly emphasized the need of the pastor to devote his morning hours to study and sermon preparation, preferably at home, away from the hustle and bustle of the church office. These three characteristics: expository preaching, preaching without notes, and morning study influenced myriads of preachers in the generations to follow.