Most people are afraid to speak in public. I heard somewhere that the average person would rather get a root canal than to give a speech to an audience. The risk of embarrassment in front of a group of people can be paralyzing. For some, the approach to battling that fear is to prepare for the talk to the nth degree. One aspect of this preparation can include knowing all the technical details of that talk backwards and forwards. And, of course, knowing these details can imbue confidence in giving the speech. No doubt. When I was giving talks at veterinary conferences I knew that I could not fake my way through. If I didn’t know the topic well, it showed in my speaking style.
But by the same token, if we have all the knowledge in the world about a subject, but don’t have conviction in the topic such that you are passionate about sharing the information with your audience, you are dead.in the water. A Forbes magazine podcast that I recently read makes the claim that the passion you have for the topic is more critical to the success of a talk than is the technical aspects such as how long your pauses are between thoughts. Or how you stand or making eye contact. The audience remembers the emotional connection with the speaker and with the topic long after they recall what the speaker wore or if they remained grammatically correct. So the success of your presentation comes most fundamentally from the belief you have in the subject. As Olivia Newton John sang in one of her songs (yes…I am going to use an ONJ reference here!!) “It’s coming from my heart and not my head”.
And this key tenant of public speaking was discovered by the evangelist, Apollo, in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Apollo, we are told, just had the Baptism of John. Meaning that he was baptized by John and knew only what John preached. Jesus’ disciples, Priscilla and Aquilla, took him aside and shared with him the teachings of Jesus directly. And at this the passion that is the Holy Spirit dwelled within him:
“…when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside
and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.
And when he wanted to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him
and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. After his arrival he gave great assistance to those who had come to believe through grace.
He vigorously refuted the Jews in public, establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.”
In the same way, the Apostles had been changed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost. And don’t we see this is the homilies we listen to. There are those who preach and set the world on fire. They know Scripture well but then apply the words on the page to what is happening in the world currently, always keeping in mind that biblical principles do not change but the circumstances can change in each age. Their excitement comes through just as it would if related to someone how your favorite team just won the championship. No hesitancy, no apology. Just unbridled excitement.
Then there are those who use what I call, “priest speak:. Meaning that the content is certainly correct and true to Cathodic teaching. But it is dry. It can be like sitting through an Organic Chemistry lecture. Theories, chemical equations and proofs but no application.
It can also apply to how we share the Gospel. Excitement and passion are contagious and people feel that almost to where they are not hearing your specific words. But they can FEEL how much you love what you are talking about. Father Burke Masters talks about the Kerygma. It is the short summary, the elevator speech, on Christianity that we should be be ready to share with others. If you are not familiar with the Kerygma, it goes something like this:
(1) the loving plan of God for human beings;
(2) sin and its devastating consequences, especially separation from God;
(3) God’s answer to our predicament in the sending of his Son for our salvation; and
(4) the response this gift calls for from every person: to repent of our sins, believe in Jesus and be baptized, so we can be filled with his Holy Spirit and live a new life in his family, the Church.
These 4 elements sum up the message of salvation from Genesis to Revelation. But it is how you FEEL about this message that makes all the difference in how people receive this message from you. So will you give them a calculus lecture or will you reliving the Super Bowl?
