Are you a Christ led leader? Anyone who is striving to become more like Christ is called to lead in some way or another, whether that be as an Elder on the church board, a Sunday school teacher, a stay at home mom or even a businessman. Guiding others toward God is accomplished by learning and applying what He is teaching. Leadership entails a plethora of responsibilities, which is why those called to such a position must strive to express and communicate in an effective way. A well written, well read leader has the advantage of expressing their thoughts eloquently.
Teaching and preaching would not be the same without the strategies and methods presented in writing. Any leader, young or old, should strive to clarify their thoughts and increase their influence. There is clear evidence that the pursuit of writing increases these attributes. Because writing skills maximize leadership and influence, it is important for leaders understand how to eloquently write about a remembered event, how to explain a new concept, how to add detail and vivid descriptions, how to cue their reader and how to properly narrate. One: Remembering an Event
When writing an essay on remembered events the story must be comprised of three basic features. In addition to the three basic features, there must be a backbone of purpose and remembered events must address a wide audience. The first feature this style of writing must have is a well-told story. A well-told story is one that is enchanting to read and arouses curiosity. The second feature of remembered event essays should be specific, vivid and detailed accounts of people and places. Not only should the story be interesting and enjoyable to read, but it should have significance; it should have a purpose.
Last, the remembered story must have autobiographical significance. A writer will always have an assumption in mind when writing in regards to who their audience will be and how they will react. There must be a specific point in relying the remembered event. A well told story is made up of five different components. The first of these is the foundation for a well told story; the exposition. Writers should start the story with some background information to set the scene and introduce characters. Second, a well told story starts rising in action.
The basic conflict should be set off by a situation, arousing curiosity and suspense and setting the stage for more possible conflicts. The third component to a well told story is the climax. Climax, this case, simply means an emotional high point marking a defining moment. What follows the climax of a well told story is the fourth component, falling action. Here, issues that were addressed in the first sections of the story begin to subside. The fifth, and last, component for a well told story is the resolution. Resolution is where conflicts may come to an end, but not necessarily be resolved.
For Christian leaders today, learning how to write about a remembered event opens the door for a more eloquent telling of their own, personal testimony. Remembered events can be about an incident that caused a reexamination of basic values or belief. Writing a remembered event is an excellent platform for reflecting on and sharing a personal experience. Followers of the Lord can use this as a tool with the hope of leading readers to think about their own experience and beliefs about God. Two: Explaining a New Concept Before a leader can explain a new concept, they must thoroughly understand it themselves.
By researching facts at the library, asking experts in the subject and using the advice of friends, a student can have a solid foundation of understanding concerning a new concept. The goal when explaining a new concept is to make the topic easily understood by the reader. By using various cues, such as a thesis statement, topic sentences, headings, and various transitional words and phrases, writers can make their work easier to read. One effective way of presenting a new concept is through detailed data, which allows the audience to have an interactive sample of the new concept.
Oftentimes concept explanations attempt to present their information as uncontested truth. We should be aware of what we’re reading and not take assertive writing as fact unless it is proven to be so. Textbooks and other reference materials are wonderful examples of this, as they sometimes present a limited view of knowledge in the name of academic discipline. Being able to eloquently explain a new concept will help in the process of developing long-term memory. The human memory is comprised of three simple stages – sensory register, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
The first stage of memory is sensory register, lasting less than a second, is best described as a sensory snapshot and is stimulated by sight, smell, touch, taste, and action. By paying special attention at the first stage, the sense can be moved to short-term memory, which still only lasts for about 30 seconds. During the thirty seconds of short term memory, or S. T. M. , the brain analyzes and decides whether the information gained is significant enough to move to the next stage, L. T. M. , accomplished only through recitation and repetition.
Once information is stored in L. T. M. , it is stored permanently; although loss of access to such information is inevitable if subject to bad organization and review. In order to keep access to L. T. M. one must organize and study in an orderly fashion. The Human memory is fascinating; the sensory register, S. T. M. and L. T. M. only scratch the surface of how incredible God made the human brain! Because a student must repeat and recite information in order to explain it to others, the tool of explaining a new concept is actually helping the writer improve their memory in the process. Three: Describing and Detailing
Using sensory description can be helpful for writers when describing animals, people, or scenes that rely on sight more than other senses. When people are describing what they see, they typically identify what objects are in their field of vision. The sense of hearing is most often described with a sound accompanying the subject or object that made the sound. Then there is the sense of smell and the sense of touch, followed by the sense of taste. As an add to naming and detailing, comparing can also work towards creating a more vivid picture for an audience. Some forms of comparing commonly used by writers include similes and metaphors.
A simile can be used to express a similarity between two words or phrases using the words like or as. Metaphors, on the other hand, work by contrast. A metaphor uses one thing described as though it were another in order to portray a vivid picture. Using metaphors and similes can help the reader gain a clear picture of the five senses – sight, smell, touch, taste, sound – while interacting with the subject and environment. The goal for every experienced writer is to write in such a way that they create a dominant impression, which is a mood or atmosphere that reaffirms the writer’s intent.
Naming, detailing, comparing, and sensory language can all work together to create a layered work of literature that readers most commonly enjoy reading and writers should be proud of. Four: Cueing the Reader Orienting Statements are wonderful for guiding the reader into a train of thought or line of thinking. A thesis statement can combine the main idea of the material covered with the conclusion or question asked by the information presented. Forecasting Statements can overview the way a theses will be developed.
As a reader would expect, a writer has every right to divide up their essay into as many sections as they want, so long as they preview each section in the thesis statement at the beginning of the essay. The design of an essay, how the work is divided up, has to do with the style of whatever the author’s particular style is and how they choose to use paragraphs. A significant part of any paragraph is what cues are used. Paragraph cues include, but are not limited to, paragraph indentation and organization that allows the most significant thought to be clearly seen.
Paragraph cues, especially the cue of indentation, is fairly new. If a writer wants to give a certain idea or significant thought a special emphasis, they may use the information gathered by placing it into its own paragraph. There should always be two to three keywords that repeat or reflect the beginning and clincher sentences. Connectives are closely correlated with transitions. Transitions can be used to show logical relationships, such as a conclusion or summary. In addition transitions can be used to show temporal relationships, a sequence or progression of time.
Transitions serve as a bridge to connect otherwise unrelated or distant paragraphs, sentences, or words with each other. Leaders can improve their teaching through the use orienting statements in their writing to show their audience where they are going with their work. Allowing the most significant thought to shine through by using paragraphing cues can help orient a leader, giving them clear organization in their writing. Understanding how to use transitional cues will will help leaders in writing their teaching materials and other necessary documents where eloquence is key. Five: Narrating
Narrating is a fantastic life-skill to cultivate in order to personally make sense of events experienced in life, observed in life or simply read about. In addition to the benefit individual’s have of understanding themselves and those around them more intricately, narrating helps portray ideas and important information to others in an exciting and intriguing way. Strategies such as calendar and clock time, temporal transitions, verb tense, specific narrative action, and dialogue give narrative its wonderful qualities. One important method of narration is a the knowledge of how to narrate a process.
Process narratives are a method of writing that explains detailed instructions to readers as to how things should be done. Not only should narrating a process include each necessary action, but it should include clearly explaining each concept in the designated order. There are two types of process narratives usually used today: explanatory process narratives and instructional process narratives. Conclusion With the understanding that anyone who is striving to become more like Christ is called to lead in some way or another, Christians should desire to maximize their influence.
Guiding others toward God is accomplished by learning and applying what He is teaching. Leadership entails a plethora of responsibilities, which is why those called to such a position must strive to express and communicate in an effective way. A testimony of the Lord’s work in someone’s life could be relayed through a “remembered event” blog entry or letter to a friend. With only five percent of people considered to “write well”, the ability to explain a new concept through written word is a rare and needed tool in the church today.
A well written, well read leader has the advantage of expressing their thoughts eloquently. Teaching and preaching would not be the same without the strategies and methods presented in writing. Any leader, young or old, should strive to clarify their thoughts and increase their influence. Because writing skills maximize leadership and influence, it is important for leaders understand how to eloquently write about a remembered event, how to explain a new concept, how to add detail and vivid descriptions, how to cue their reader and how to properly narrate.
