The Power of the Sermon

What is the real power of a sermon?

This is a question I have asked myself over and over again as I have listened to sermon after sermon - especially during the Jewish high holiday season.

This year, it struck me that the sermon is the one time during the service when the focus is on communication between people, rather than between people and God. The sermon is a break from prayer, and an opportunity for the Rabbi to connect directly with the congregation.

The best sermons are those in which each person in the congregation feels personally addressed - where the Rabbi is somehow able to have a one-on-one conversation with each individual present.

The best sermons are the ones where the listener is absolutely essential - so much so that the sermon would not even be possible without his/her presence.

Focused eye contact and clarity of purpose and message are just a few of the ways the a spiritual leader can connect personally with individuals in the congregation.

This kind of true human connection actually serves to elevate the entire prayer experience.

From the Green Room: Remember, there is no such thing as "public speaking". In any presentation, strive to make each listener feel as though you were having a one-on-one conversation with him/her.

Cover the Extremities

My three-year old daughter refused to wear a jacket for most of this winter. She did insist, however, on always wearing her hat and mittens.

As frustrating as this was as a parent, she was perfectly comfortable - as long as her extremities were covered.

The same holds true for eye contact during a presentation. Focus the majority of time on "the extremities" - the people at the edges of the room, who are the most likely to be ignored. When you look people on the edges, you include everyone and make everyone feel comfortable. When you focus mainly on the middle, you exclude the folks on the side - AND make those in the middle feel uncomfortable.

From the Green Room: Cover the extremities. The most important people to look at are the people at the farthest ends of the room. By focusing on the edges, you include everyone.

Don't Sacrifice the Eyes

Yesterday I led a presentation skills training for a group of nonprofit fundraisers.

As we practiced "connection techniques" (ways to use voice, body language, and eyes to connect with the listener), one participant asked,

"Many times, we have to make phone calls to people we don't know. How can we apply this training?"

I had a difficult time answering him.

On one hand, I could help him find ways to connect with a stranger over the phone. (vocal variation, warmth of tone, etc.) But really, I knew this would be insufficient.

Phone solicitations work when the listener has already made a commitment. The phone call merely seals the deal. The goal here is not connection - but rather completion.

The power of conversation can only be truly realized in a live format.

While so much is lost in non-live exchange, perhaps the greatest sacrifice is eye contact.

As a speaker, the most powerful way to engage your listener is by truly looking him in the eye. This is true whether you are speaking to an audience of 1 or 1,000.

On a fundamental level, human beings want to be seen.

And making eye contact is the most fundamental and the most powerful to do this.

From the Green Room: If you really need something from somebody, don't sacrifice your greatest asset - your eyes. Take the time to meet face to face and make sustained, direct eye contact. Even if you are speaking to a large group, this is the most powerful way to connect.

What Patrick Swayze Taught Us About the Art of Public Speaking

A great speech coach once gave me the following advice:

Try practicing your entire speech without once moving your head.


Not easy.

This is the way Patrick Swayze danced.

Look at the closing scene from Dirty Dancing. His body moves in perfect rhythm. He is beyond sexy. And his head remains absolutely still.



This enables him to maintain full eye contact with Jennifer Grey - and is, I believe, the secret to what makes this scene so riveting and so memorable.

From the Green Room: To master the art of public speaking, as you make eye contact with individuals in your audience, try keeping your head as still as possible.

Thank you Patrick Swayze.

If You Must Read...

One of the greatest speaking challenges is being able to connect to the audience while reading a prepared script.

Great speakers seem as though they are in conversation with their audience. It is very difficult to do this if you are reading your remarks word for word.

When possible, I recommend using notes or an outline, rather than a script. But of course there are times and occasions when this is simply not possible.

So what is a speaker to do?

Try writing your speech as if you are writing a personal letter to the audience - and read it that way, too.

You might even start your speech, "Dear (audience),"

While you won't actually read that part aloud, writing in a letter format encourages you to be fully present with your audience - and they will respond in kind.

From the Green Room: Need to read from a script? Try writing - and reading - a letter written just for your particular audience. Make eye contact with the individual people you are "writing" to. This will enable you to be present with the people in the room - even if you prepare each word in advance.

G-dcast: The Power of Visuals

What is G-dcast?

As defined on their site (G-dcast.com), "G-dcast is a place to watch cartoons based on the story Jews are reading in the Torah this week."

This week, I am the lucky narrator. I discuss the story of the Golden Calf, and my words are animated by the incredibly talented Nick Fox-Gieg.

Parshat Ki Tisa from G-dcast.com

More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com

In my discussion, I talk about the power of sight. The seriousness of the sin of worshipping the calf is only truly recognized when God and Moses see it with their own eyes.

This message about sight really hit home for me months after the initial recording, when I actually saw my words come to life through the animation!

A famous study at UCLA tried to answer the question, "What makes the most impact on an audience?"

The study revealed that only 7% of the impact comes from the words you say.

37% is the sound of your voice.

And a whopping 56% is what the audience sees when they listen to you. (stance, movement, visuals, eye contact, etc.)

So the key to making your content stick is to reinforce it with your body and your visuals - and especially with eye contact.

What makes G-dcast so powerful is the simultaneous audio and visual expression. Each reinforces and enriches the other.

From the Green Room:
Synchronize what you say with what you do with your body. Watch G-dcast.com.

What Paul Harvey Taught Us About the Art of Public Speaking

From today's Washington Post:

Paul Harvey, 90, a Chicago-based radio broadcaster whose authoritative baritone voice and distinctive staccato delivery attracted millions of daily listeners for more than half a century, died Feb. 28 in Phoenix.

What can we learn from how Paul Harvey used his voice?

Certainly, as the Post recognizes, Harvey had a unique style that was easily recognized. But of course there is something deeper happening.

Listen to Harvey read a hypothetical letter from God:



He addresses the letter to "My Dear Children." And that is exactly what we hear. Paul Harvey seems to actually be speaking to people he deeply cares about and is truly invested in. As a result, his voice inspires trust.

From the Green Room: Speak to your audience as if you were addressing someone who is precious to you. Be generous - with your eye contact, voice and with your message.

Freddy Mercury and the Art of Public Speaking

The key to a great presentation is making each person in the audience actually believe that you are talking directly to him or her.

Take a look at this 1985 video of Freddy Mercury singing Radio Ga-Ga at the Live- Aid concert. It is an immensely powerful performance. You can feel the energy and connection between Mercury and the audience at Wembley Stadium.

Let’s unpack some of what makes his performance so brilliant and so compelling:

1. Presence. Freddy Mercury is 100% in the song and with the audience.

2. Bold movements. He walks with confidence and direction. You can tell that knows exactly where he is going and why.

3. Open body. Notice how he holds his arms out. His body is completely open to the audience.

4. Sustained Eye Contact. Mercury looks out into different sections of the audience as though he were focusing on just one individual face. The result? Each person in the section (and even those of us watching on our computers) feels that he is looking only at him or her.

5. Generosity of Spirit. His eyes, his body, his voice all feel like a gift to the audience.

From the Green Room: Having presence is the difference between making an audience of 1 feel overlooked and ignored and an audience of 100,000 feel seen and heard.