4 Keys to Good Storytelling

As a minister you are responsible for a lot of different things. One responsibility that ministers get associated with a lot is giving messages to those we are ministering to. Whether you call it giving a message, a sermon, teaching a lesson or storytelling, the bottom line is it a very important responsibility ministers have the opportunity to give. After all, you get to tell stories of hope, love, forgiveness and much more with the potential of life-changing impact.

But what can you do both prior to and during the story that will help you present it but also help those you are sharing it with understand it best? Here are 4 keys that I have discovered over time.

Be Prepared – Practice and Preparation are key to being successful in storytelling. Young Life always says that it is a sin to bore a kid with the gospel. The way you make it come alive is to be prepared. Sure you can throw a lesson together hours before you have to give it, but why do that? I believe you are doing your audience a disservice by just throwing it together. Start working on it 7 days out, praying and processing how God wants you to share the story with your audience. The more time you spend preparing the lesson, the more comfortable you will be sharing it and the greater the chance it will have at impacting others because you’ve invested time in it.

Paint the Picture. Painting the picture in your story is simply making the story come alive. By this I mean do not just get up there and read the story, but put your audience IN the story. An example could be having them close their eyes and visualize themselves in the story as you are reading it. Or use a video telling of the story so they can see what it was like to live in the days of Jesus. Be descriptive in your storytelling so those listening feel like they can visualize the story and see it as you are telling it. The more descriptive you can be the better they are going to be able to put themselves into the story and experience it better.

Engage the Audience. Being prepared and painting the picture are really important to telling a good story. But if all you do is talk to and not engage the audience at all, you are limiting your effectiveness. Engage the audience by interacting with them and asking them questions. One great way for your audience to understand and process the story while you are sharing it with them is by asking them questions. The more they can think about what you are talking about and answer questions along the way the more likely it is going to stick with them longer because they are discovering it themselves rather than being told about it.

Make it Applicable. Stories are great, but there has to be a main point to them. In particular to that point, there has to be an application. An application to the story shows that there should be an action taken by us because what happened in the story. Otherwise, it would be just a good story.  In order for your story to have the greatest impact, make sure there is an application that they can take away with them.

Storytelling is a key part of ministry. It your opportunity to get up in front of a crowd and share about the love and life-changing impact Christ can have in their lives. That is why it is so important you are prepared, paint the picture of the story, engage the audience with questions and make it applicable. The better you can be at doing these 4 things the greater the chance people hearing this can make an informed decision about what they believe and why.

What do you think?  What do you do to be effective in your storytelling?  Share them below or on social media using #ymsidekick when you share.

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