How can a magnificent church moment help us when presenting or training? Read on and I’ll explain.
Easter Sunday, Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire. The place was packed to the rafters for such an occasion. The Abbey is exhilarating, the architecture ambitious and authentic, and Canon Paul Williams was at his best that morning.
My daughter was singing in the choir and the Abbey seemed to be full with children. How correct is that. But with a limited attention span, Canon Paul had his work cut out.
He began to talk about Jesus being betrayed and sensed he was losing the children in the congregation. So he drew an analogy.
“Who’s seen Star Wars?”, he asked. Hands rose to encourage his next words.
And he began to tell the story of Luke Skywalker and his brother Darth Vadar and how Darth Vadar betrayed Luke. The children lapped it up and so did the parents.
So next time you need to get a point across, however serious the setting, think of an analogy or metaphor that the audience can relate to. Believe me; they will also lap it up. Just like the children in the congregation.
I think it takes a brave person to do this in austere venues such as the boardroom but great orators do it, so should we. Test the audience next time you see them losing interest and think back to the Star Wars Story mesmerising the congregation at Tewkesbury Abbey that cold morning.
