Communicating For A Change by Andy Stanley is the first book I completed on my Kindle 2. It’s a great book for anyone who spends any time in front of others speaking. It’s written from Andy’s perspective as a pastor, but a lot of the practical tips he’s shares translate to any speaking context. I enjoyed this book because it is practical, and Andy shares everything he does to prepare and deliver a message. If you’ve never heard Andy preach, he really is one of the greatest communicators I’ve ever heard. I love listening to his stuff. You can checkout his podcast on iTunes or at NorthPoint’s website.

If you decide to checkout this book (and you should for the sake of your audiences and your messages), it’s divided into 2 parts. The first part is a fictional narrative that tells a story of a pastor learning Andy’s principles from a gifted communicator. The first part was good, but the second half is way better. The entire book revolves around 7 Keys to Irresistable Communication and a relational outlining approach (ME-WE-GOD-YOU-WE) that Andy uses. (By the way, I listened to Andy to see if he followed his outline approach at Catalyst West. He nailed it.)

Here’s some highlights that I clipped via my Kindle 2:

- Every time I stand to communicate I want to take one simple truth and lodge it in the heart of the listener. I want them to know that one thing and know what to do with it

- Every sermon should take the audience somewhere

- Until you can deliver it with no notes, from memory, then it’s not your message.

- Until you can stand up and tell a story, you’re not ready to preach. You see, people connect with a story, and a story takes people on a journey

- Speaking from memory isn’t difficult to do if you’re telling a story. People make it difficult when they try to communicate points instead of telling a story. If you have four or five points you’re trying to drive home, then you get focused on not forgetting any of them.

- Have a one point message

- How can you expect your listener to care enough to remember what you’re saying when you can’t?

- At some point we’ve got to begin caring more for the people in the audience than the person on the platform. When we do, our presentations take on real significance. Until we do, communication is really all about us.

- Preaching for life change requires far less information and more application. Less explanation and more inspiration.

- If you decide to preach for life change you won’t be satisfied until the behavior of your audience is transformed; and you will be willing to do just about anything to see that transpire.
- You need a sticky statement.

- People ask me all the time how I preach without looking at notes. Now you know.

P.S. – This review took 5 minutes since the Kindle 2 already had my notes and excerpts organized.