I recently explained how I preach without notes here. As far as I can tell, preaching without notes is becoming increasingly common (probably due to the influence of people like Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill). In this post I want to explain why I do it.

It needs to be said that preaching without notes is not for everybody. It would be a mistake to think that preaching without notes is the only way to preach, or even the best way. It’s just one of the many! So if you are going to preach without notes, have a good reason.

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I recently explained here how I preach without notes. If you missed it, I preach off mind-maps that I create using a program called xmind. In other words, I basically preach off a picture.

That being said, I’ve obviously got a few steps between drawing the picture and preaching. I’ve outlined them below:

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I’ve been preaching without a full text script for three years now. It was Steve Chong from Kirk Place who first challenged me to do it (and apparently Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill who first challenged him).

How much my own method resembles either of theirs now I can’t say. What I do know is that Steve put me onto a computer program (and Mark him) that has enabled me to do it. It’s called xmind. It’s a free mind-mapping program that works on all platforms.

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As I mentioned here, I was recently fortunate enough to spend a day (pro bono) with Colin James. Colin is one of Australia’s leading corporate speakers, educators and facilitators. During the day, Colin introduced some friends and I to what he described as “something that will change your lives forever”.

He called it the CPD hierarchy. According to Colin this would significantly improve our ability to:

• Communicate effectively
• Answer questions off the cuff
• Summarise and recount another person’s ideas

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