The best sermons are conversations. You want to make everyone feel as if you are having a conversation with them. Like they’re the only person in the room. Like you’re sitting at a table with with them and discussing a problem, a concern, a big thing God wants them to do.

Two primary points of feedback I’ve heard recently about my sermons:

You come across very personable when you preach.
You have a conversational preaching style.

In most cases people explain how my approach makes them feel. They say that it is disarming because they can relate to me like I’m a real person – not a disconnected preacher guy. Because I seem authentic, they trust me and want to listen.

I understand that not everyone takes a conversational approach, and I’m not saying conversational style is the only way, but I am suggesting it’s worth a try. Here is a way to experiment with a conversational approach:

1. When you prepare, think about the obvious questions or...

Welcome to Preaching Donkey! This blog is about becoming better at communicating the message you want to get across. A lot of preaching resources focus on content; this one is more about communication.

Some topics I write about include sermon prep, sermon structure, sermon length, conversational preaching, getting feedback, rehearsing sermons, public speaking tools, maximizing impact, and anything else related to perfecting the art of preaching.

Who am I? I’m Lane. Do I know everything about preaching? Of course not. I have a lot to learn like everyone else. I just want to share my thoughts and start a conversation. I write about principles I’ve learned from nearly ten years of preaching regularly in a variety of contexts and studying communication in college.

While working on my seminary degree in pastoral ministry, I noticed that my preaching courses focused mostly on theological accuracy, biblical exegesis and sermon structure. These are all necessary, but...