Speaking to Teenagers: How to Think About, Create, and Deliver Effective Messages

by Doug Fields, Duffy Robbins

Get ready for a crash course in effective communication. More than just a book on how to ³do talks,² Speaking to Teenagers combines the experience and wisdom of two veteran youth ministry speakers, along with insightful research and practical tools, to help you develop messages that engage students with the love of Christ and the power of his Word. Whether you¹re crafting a five-minute devotional or a 30-minute sermon, Speaking to Teenagers is essential to understanding and preparing great messages. Together, Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins show you how they craft their own messages and give you the tools to do it yourself. They¹ll guide you, step-by-step, through the process of preparing and delivering meaningful messages that effectively communicate to your students. Fields and Robbins walk you through three dimensions of a message‹the speaker, the listener, and the message itself‹and introduce you to the concept and principles of inductive communication. You¹ll also get helpful tips on finding illustrations for your talk and using them for maximum impact, as well as insights on reading your audience and effective body language. As Speaking to Teenagers guides you toward becoming a more effective communicator, you¹ll find that this book¹s practical principles will positively impact the way you view, treat, and communicate to teenagers.

Genres: Christian, Young Adult, Education, Teaching, Theology, Religion, School

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Nathan Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It was humorously written and backed by the authors' years of experience speaking to crowds of teenagers. I found it tremendously practical and influencing on my own speaking habits. Thankful for this book and a great balance to other preaching books that focus on the theoretical. I've returned to this book numerous times and have read through it twice.

[Jordan Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super engaging and informative. Caught myself laughing out loud in a public place while reading on my phone. While the times have changed since this book was written, the vast majority of the content is still super relevant.

[Ben Swingle]

Definitely written by and for people in youth ministry ;)

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book on how to give a sermon message to teenagers. It is part a book on how to give a sermon, and part a textbook on public speaking. There are many overlaps, but there are certain things you do to prepare a sermon (e.g. praying) that you don't necessarily do when preparing other types of speeches. The two authors used many humorous illustrations to make the content more interesting and readable. I think it is a good book for teaching public speaking -- better than the ones I've used before :P They organize the content a little differently than most public speaking textbooks, with two separate chapters on nonverbal cues (voice elements get its own chapter). (And there's another chapter on the ways the room and stage can be set up.) Presentational aid is treated as a type of supporting material/illustration you think about when organizing the speech. It makes more sense to me.

[Hannah Gies · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 out of 10 would recommend to anyone who preaches, teaches, or speaks to youth. Fields and Robbins know so much about youth ministry, and it's clear throughout the book that they genuinely love sharing Jesus with teenagers. The practical speaking tips are on point, and I like their STICK sermon prep method. Laced with humor and relatable experiences, I'm glad I got to read this book in my youth ministry preaching class.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly Recommended for youth pastors and youth volunteers!

A fantastic book on communication to a target audience that is highly amorphous. There are areas of the book that I think might be slightly dated, but the principle behind those instances can be refitted to modern scenarios.

I feel this is a MUST read for anyone who is in any volunteer / vocation where they hope to impact younger adults and older kids for positive change!

[Chuck Meade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an extremely helpful, practical book that I would recommend to any student pastor or leader. It’s chock full of practical tips (not all that I would immediately implement) and a good reminder of the demographic that I minister to. With all the deep theological training seminaries teach when it comes to preaching, this book helps balance out the need for you to present messages that students will want to hear.

[Justin Ruszkiewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another incredible Doug Fields (& Duffy Robbins) resource! Loved the humor, honesty, and passion each of these authors exude for youth ministry, and the difference we can make as we improve our communicating with teenagers. Got a LOT out of this one, and will definitely recommend this to my next-Gen communicators!

Rating: 9/10, five stars!

[Nathaniel King · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Blessing.

Outstanding book! Great insight regardless of where you are in Youth Ministry. A Good Read!!! I would recommend all Youth Pastors and Leaders to read this book if you have the desire to speak to Teens.

[Taylor Rollo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really not that helpful. He is really just the basics of speech and communication with some illustrations about youth, which did not really provide what I was looking for.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone working, and especially speaking, in youth ministry, this book will help you immensely! And it is filled with good humor and stories and advice from two amazing guys who get it.

[Shelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and thought provoking. Now I need to plan a rearrangement of my week and read Communicating for Change!!

[Griffin Swihart · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best teaching/preaching books I’ve read, highlighted by its nuances with student ministry. Tons of practical help, and a book I’ll certainly revisit!

[Anna Enderle · Rating 3 out of 5]

learning how to speak to myself? my prof also had us read the chapters out of order so I barely even remember what I learned from this lol

[Kessia Reyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my short time as a student of homiletics, I have read a modest but helpful number of volumes (sixteen or so) on the subject of preaching, and the text by Fields and Robbins is a very welcome addition to my library. It is interesting to read, biblically grounded, and packed with useful insights and tips on preaching. Though titled Speaking to Teenagers, this book would be a practical manual to any Christian speaker addressing many types of audiences. It is clearly not meant to be an introduction to homiletics, but rather a field guide for the youth leader or chaplain or pastor who regularly addresses the mysterious group of beings known as teenagers. For this reason, it is full of sympathetic humor and functional insights.

I think it would be a great read for anybody looking to sharpen their preaching, especially if you haven't developed a sermon preparation process that works well for you (their S.T.I.C.K. approach will be helpful) or if you're a little lost in how to deliver messages to attention-challenged audiences.

[Jonathan Brooker · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who is constantly working to improve my speaking skills (and have been for years) this felt a little like a step back to maybe where I was during college or shortly thereafter. I think it really is written to the novice speaker. So, being such as it is, I found the book to be marginally helpful. It gave a few helpful nudges in directions I needed to be nudged in.

I must say that they had a section on humor where they said that if it's not funny, just don't do it. They say that failed humor is no good. Oddly enough, it didn't stop them. The book is constantly cheesy and at some points downright embarrassingly or painfully filled with puns or bad jokes.

But that aside, it was a decent read. I might recommend it to a new youth speaker, but then again, I may just give my own cliff notes version.

[MrBReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

First things first - I really really enjoyed this book! The writing style was, in my opinion at least, hilarious which always helps! The biggest drawback for me was that much of the book, coming from two full-time youth workers, will be difficult to successfully implement for a volunteer with a full-time job. That said, the pointers given in composing, constructing and communicating a message to teenagers can definitely be incorporated into anyone's talk-prepping routine. The highlights for me were the sections about studying for a talk, the different ways of constructing a talk, and the suggested 3-year approach for planning topics. This is the first book about youth work I've read in 5 years of doing youth work (oops), and I have to say it's a strong (if slightly delayed) start!

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that encompassed a large variety of speaking ideas and a great sense of humor. If you wanted to learn how to speak better to anyone, I'd highly suggest reading this book before anything else. But if you've had a good amount of speaking experience you'll find yourself bored at times. Personally I perform public speaking once or twice a month and the book was about 50% interesting / 50% "I've already heard this." Definitely got my money's worth out of the good content though.

Note: This is the best speaking tip resource ever!

[Michael Schroeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started teaching Bible studies when I was 12, and this was the book probably more than any other that helped me think about how to create effective messages. The authors do such a good job of including humor throughout the book that it is not a drudgery to read, and you can tell they have been involved in youth ministry, attempting to engage teenagers with short attention spans. I've read through it several times. I highly recommend it to anyone put into a position where they are speaking to teenagers.

[Jansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good details on how to give and prepare for talks. Uses words like Logos and Pathos, but doesn't expect you to remember what they mean (uses them more as a reference, but gives common words too). Replace Teenagers with Audience and this book applies to almost all public speaking. Single sections or chapters can stand alone as a quick read instead of the book as a whole.

[Joshua Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the content, and this book shaped the way I think about creating messages for students. I can't give it 5 stars because the writing style isn't great...it's not nearly as bad as a lot of ym books, but it needs work.

[Matthew Shedd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for some specific advice for teaching teens. It does not do a good job of covering study principles. I would, therefore, recommend reading this and a book like New Testament Exegesis by Gordon Fee.

Good book.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Useful when it got practical and the rubber began to hit the road — unfortunately most of the time it was airborne.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some great practical stuff to revisit over and over! Thanks guys!

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, solid and helpful. I think the book is a tad too lengthy, and the chapter regarding microphones was a bit superfluous. Nevertheless, a very helpful guide for youth pastors and leaders.

[Mark Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful and humorous guide by two gifted youth pastors who practice what they preach. Worthwhile for anyone who preaches and teaches people of any age, but especially youth.

[Sándor Szabó]

Good ideas and tips. I still have the feeling that this is really a talent that you have or not. If you have it it can help you to improve it much better, if you don't have it, the teenagers will spot you as a fake immediately.