Task 4: Complete the transitions and illustrations at the appropriate points
Essence of the task
If still needed, complete the transitions and illustrations at the appropriate points.
Detailed description
One may well, of course, have written all the transitions and illustrations required for the sermon in the previous task. There is nothing mandatory in this separation of tasks.
However, the reason I have separated them is to highlight each aspect as worthy of its own reflection and effort. In this particular case, that is, with the issue of transitions and illustrations, I want to highlight the following:
- There are times when we do not give the transitions between important sections of the sermon adequate thought and care. We simply assume that because a level one statement appears in the outline, the listener will know that we have moved from one main topic to another. But this cannot be taken for granted. Unless you highlight it with a PowerPoint slide (or something similar) people in the audience will not necessarily know that you have moved from Main Point 1 to Main Point 2. Hence we need to make a concerted effort in our transitions so that people can follow what we are saying.
- Then, as far as illustrations are concerned, you may have put in a few notes to remind yourself of an illustrative story that you can easily tell. However, if you have the time, it may be worthwhile to flesh out exactly what you’re going to say so that the illustration really comes to life. A twist of words… A link to vocabulary used elsewhere in the sermon… A few funny expressions to lighten the delivery.
To Do
Let’s go in parts, so that it is clear what we have in mind with this task.
1. Examine each of your main points and refine the transitions between them if necessary.
Do you arrive well, logically and neatly between the end of the previous point and the beginning of the next point? Will the listener be able to follow you, without being confused, from one point to the next? Have you included what we might call “verbal markers” to help the listener know that you are transitioning?
Remember that the listener is following you at the level of individual words that follow one after the other. It is a very fine thread on which to balance the logical development of a sermon. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to do everything possible so that, at the verbal level, the listener can follow the logic of the development and transitions. Some examples of this would be:
- Simple, obvious vocal transitions.
- “To begin”
- “First”
- “Second”
- “Third”
- “Finally”
- Or expanded, more explanatory transitions.
- «Having seen how Peter now emphasizes the importance of clearly understanding who we are as God’s people, we move on to a second statement that has that very point as a necessary foundation. Let’s see what he says about it in the second section of our text.»
- «Who would have expected it? The truth that the Apostle John highlights with these three complementary perspectives changes our whole way of thinking about the environment in which we live. But what should that lead to? What significance does it have for our way of leaving worship this morning and engaging in our next conversation with our neighbor? Hence, as we conclude, I want us to think about something that may have escaped you in the biblical text so far…»
We could give more examples, but these are probably enough. The thing to do now, if you haven’t already done so, is to go through the outline or manuscript, examine each transition you have and see if they are adequate or need to be improved in some way. It’s simply a matter of making sure that your listeners will be able to follow you through the important transitions in the sermon. This will help them greatly in their ability to clearly understand the development of the biblical argument.
2. Go back over the illustrations you plan to use to determine if they need to be fleshed out or improved.
Are the illustrations complete? Do you need to finalize them, so that you can use them fluently?
Next, does each illustration make sense? That is, is it really a good illustration for the point to be emphasized, and can it be improved by working on how you tell the story? Many times I have realized that the difference between an illustration that really “works” and one that doesn’t is not the illustration itself, but the way it is woven into the argument I am developing. By changing the introduction or some of the words it uses, its relevance becomes evident to the listener. Basically, it is a matter of “versioning” the illustration so that it fits with this sermon in the best possible way.
Versioning an illustration is particularly important when you use an illustration taken from a book or from the Internet. The point is that the illustration, as good as it may be, was probably originally used in another context and to emphasize another subject, even though it may have been an almost identical subject. If you simply choose an illustration and put it in your sermon, without further ado, the “mismatch” may disorient your listeners somewhat and the point you intended to make with the illustration may end up losing force and relevance.
To Keep in Mind
The basic notion behind this task primarily has to do with achieving as much clarity as possible.
On the one hand, so that the listener can follow the overall argument of the sermon without getting lost in the transitions. Structure lends clarity! And transitions are of paramount importance to establish the structure in the mind of the listener.
On the other hand, it is important that the listener can appreciate, without any mental disruption, how the chosen illustrations really support the point you are illustrating at any given moment. To do this, it is essential to choose the most appropriate illustrations or to version the illustrations to make them appropriate.