Don's Blog

  • How I Prepare a Speech, or How to Guide Somebody Toward an Epiphany

    April 12th 2010

    I’m not the greatest speaker in the world. In my line of work, that is inspirational speaking (speaking associated with faith but different than preaching) there are a lot of speakers better than myself. I count Rob Bell as one of these, and Francis Chan has always amazed me. My pastor, Rick McKinley is one of the best speakers I know. And in my travels to different churches, I’ve met dozens of speakers you have yet to hear about who astound me. 
    But I speak. And when I prepare a talk, I’ve discovered I prepare differently than the average speaker. To be honest, I’m not strategic about this, it’s just how my mind works. 
    But first, here’s what I don’t do, and it’s a common mistake: I don’t present and defend a point. In other words, if my point is that we need to engage the fatherless, I don’t open by saying we need to engage the fatherless and then list reasons. Thousands of speakers do this, and it’s not very effective.
    Did you know sitting and listening to a speaker is one of the very worst ways you can learn anything? It’s true. And the reason the have a point and defend [...] read original post

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The Blogger
  • Don Miller
    86 posts

    Donald Miller grew up in Houston, Texas, where he left at the age of twenty-one to cross the country with a friend in a Volkswagen van. The stuff of that trip would later become his first book, Through Painted Deserts. A couple years after releasing Through Painted Deserts, Don released Blue Like Jazz, a spiritual memoir about finding Christian faith in a post-Christian culture. Blue would slowly become a bestseller, and spend more than forty-weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List. Don’s next book was Searching for God Knows What, followed by To Own a Dragon, a book he wrote about growing up without a father. To Own a Dragon also served as the motivation to start The Belmont Foundation, a not-for-profit equipping local churches to start mentoring programs.

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