3 Keys to Help You Give a Better Talk | An Interview with Richard Nash

Richard Nash spent his career as a writer and a speaker (not always
by choice). He worked in management and marketing for Intermountain
Healthcare for 35 years and previously served as a speechwriter and
jokewriter for political and corporate leaders. He’s a former
bishop and has also served as stake Young Men president, Gospel
Doctrine teacher, and nursery leader. Most recently he is the
author of 3 Keys to Help You Give a Better Talk. His previous book,
Lengthen Your Smile, is a best-selling collection of brief stories
(most of them funny) that illustrate faith-based ideals. Richard
and his wife, Laurie, have three children and four grandchildren.
Highlights 02:10 Introduction to Richard and his book, 3 Keys to
Help You Give a Better Talk 07:50 Richard’s book was inspired by
David O. McKay. 10:40 Principle 1: Have an objective The objective
is the message you want listeners to take away from your talk. Keep
your objective to one sentence. You are normally assigned the topic
but take the time to pray and read and figure out the objective
that you need to teach. 14:30 Is your lesson objective clear? How
can you make it clear? 16:20 Richard shares his own personal
experience of giving a talk and creating a clear objective and an
attention grabbing opener. 17:45 Principle 2: Share examples People
love stories. They connect with stories. We remember stories more
than anything else we talk about. Stories are a way to show our
personality. 22:30 Richard shares how he uses his own personal
stories to connect with people. 28:00 Tips for sharing stories Keep
a journal of your stories. They should be simple and day-to-day
things. It doesn’t have to be a huge experience. Reference
scripture stories or other people’s stories but bring your own
personal experience into it. 32:45 Principle 3: Emphasize
application What can people do because of the things that I’ve
spoken today? Emphasize how people can apply principles to help
them live the gospel every day. 36:00 The typical sacrament meeting
talk is on a conference talk. We are putting their talk in our
words. What can we do differently? 37:00 Nervousness is part of
giving a talk. It makes us humble and gives us the experience of
leaning on the Holy Spirit. 45:00 Is humor appropriate in a
sacrament talk? 51:00 Tips for preparing a talk when you are
assigned a topic or given a conference talk to speak to 53:50
Oftentimes our objective in Sunday School is to cover the material
or certain chapters of scripture. We need to take the time to
search those scriptures to find an objective that will help people
live their lives. 57:15 Write down notes, quotes, and make an
outline but don’t write out your talk verbatim. This allows the
Spirit to interrupt us and give us guidance. Links 3 Keys to Help
You Give a Better Talk BetterTalksLDS.com/ Teaching Through Better
Stories in Sacrament Meeting Talks & Lessons | An Interview
with Matthew Dicks Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Watch on
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