Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication by Andy Stanley

Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication Reviews

• 
  curtis

  I’m deeply conflicted about this book, so giving it a definitive star rating is pretty challenging, honestly.
  
  On the one hand, there are some really terrific observations and practical, common-grace wisdom in these pages. There are even glimpses into Stanley’s very sincere love for his audience and his church, and his desire to help pastors preach and deliver more effectively-communicated messages is certainly heartfelt, welcome, and sincere.
  
  The problem—and it’s a big one—is that it’s all inextricably intertwined with a deeply, desperately deficient (indeed, impoverished) doctrine of Scripture. He’s not as overt in this book as he has been elsewhere about his disregard of the Old Testament (which he treats with an almost Arian disdain), but over and over the point is made that expository preaching is a waste of everyone’s time and energy. To that end, his approach to communication is deeply deficient as well: it simply will not consistently apply well to long-term expository preaching. (And indeed, that’s one of the reasons Stanley suggests that people jettison it.)
  
  My overwhelming objection to this perspective, simply put, is that the church’s problem is not (as Stanley seems to think) that people know the Bible too well already, and expository preaching therefore doesn’t address felt needs. Rather, it’s that the church is deeply under-informed about the Bible and needs far more of it. Stanley’s advice to preachers to have greater concern and empathy for their audience, and to labor to connect with them on a deeper and more intimate level, is very well-taken; but if pastors adopt the same attitude he has to the Bible, they’re in grave danger of producing congregants who treat the Word of God as a guide for personal self-improvement, and who leave it thinking a lot more about themselves than they do about Him and about what He has done.
  
  I (somewhat reluctantly) recommend reading with great care.
• 
  Theo Young

  Stanley’s goal in this book is to equip pastors with the tools to become effective communicators. Throughout his work he triumphs the public performance of a Sunday sermon. In doing so he unintentionally reveals the unfortunate reality that the pastoral role has been reduced to a weekly performance. To be fair to Stanley, this particular book is aimed at developing the specific skill of communication, so my critique is less directed at Communicating for a Change and more at the evangelical perspective of the church that this book endorses.
  
  That being said, I’m deeply saddened and frustrated by this book. Comments like, “Let’s face it, the reason so many of our churches are half full on Sunday morning is because a whole bunch of people decided not to come back. Why? Because the preacher didn’t give em anything to come back for,” show the flawed belief that one man’s effective communication is the extent of the work of the church. What he has failed to notice is that the church is not losing people because of boring preaching but because of a lack of compelling communal interaction with and participation in the life of the Triune God.
  
  The church in America doesn’t need better public performers, it needs shepherds who can teach the body to pray and live in relationship with the Lord.
• 
  Rachel Blom

  There is a lot of good, even great advice on how to deliver a sermon in Communicating for a Change. To get to the good stuff however, you need to read through the first part of the book first and that was a bit of a struggle for me, because I didn’t care much for it. Don’t let that deter you from reading the book though, for you’ll miss out on good insights into preaching that really connects with your audience.
  
  Communicating for a change is written by Andy Stanley, founder and senior pastor of North Point Community Church, and the less known Lane Jones from the same church. Because they’re strong believes in the power of a well-told story, the authors of Communicating for a change have opted to open the book with a fictional story about pastor Ray Martin who has trouble connecting with his congregation when he preaches. He then meets truck driver Willy Graham who teaches him the ‘secret’ of connecting with your audience. The lessons Willy teaches are then further discussed in the second part of the book.
  
  Personally, I think they could have skipped the whole first part and gotten right to the second part. I love stories, I love fiction for that matter, but this story didn’t feel real to me because its main function was to get information across. It felt unnatural to me, especially the dialogues. But maybe it works for you, so don’t let it deter you from reading the second part of the book because that is truly, really good.
  
  For a full review, see:
  http://www.youthleadersacademy.com/co...
• 
  Karsten Harrison

  This is a well written book on communication, not preaching. Andy Stanley’s book is divided into two sections: the first is a fictional narrative to introduce his seven principles of communication; the second is a deeper discussion on those seven points. The narrative portion is engaging, but the book could have done without it and been an even clearer, succinct communication guide. The real content of the book lies in the second section, where Stanley expounds on his communication principles.
  
  All-in-all, Stanley’s communication principles are helpful and informative. However, he fails to truly reach his audience: preachers of God’s Word. For a book on preaching written to preachers, you’d expect use of Scripture and greater consideration of the God’s sufficiency through His Word. Stanley fails to deliver on this front and thus fumbles his goal.
• 
  Ben Bandiera

  I belt the writer has some unresolved chips on his shoulder towards certain styles of preaching, especially anything that is 'bible heavy,' that being said, the second half of this book raises some solid points about communication and things that anybody getting up to preach the gospel should think about. This is of-course after you wade through 100 odd pages of some drawn out retelling which honestly disproves his whole argument about storytelling being an effective way to communicate information, which it is...when you only have one point to get across.
  As I said the practical approaches in this book are all well and good, the only aspect of his argument that makes me concerned is that this, 'topical' approach to preaching is the one and only way to be effective. All scripture is valid for teaching, thats biblical, but we will have a hard time applying the same set of preaching rules to every passage and aspect of the gospel story.
• 
  Naomi

  Stanley & Jones' Communicating For A Change is my new go-to book for practicing homiletics. The five-point sermon made sense in an age when people were used to hearing and following one to two hour discourses. That's not the current culture and preaching needs to adapt. While the method Stanley & Jones present is clear and simple, the practice will be difficult, less so for those practiced in story-based preaching, but certainly for those schooled to the classic academic Protestant style. Why? Because the kind of preaching Stanley & Jones ask for makes clergy very vulnerable and visible, practitioners of their own story of relating to the Holy, and no deliverers of lectures.
• 
  Alexander Wood

  Changed the way I think about preaching and teaching. Andy Stanley has many fantastic ideas about communication.
• 
  Kevin W

  Helpful resource for preaching. I hear Fr. Mike Schmitz reviews this book regularly to continuously improve his preaching.
  Andy Stanley is a well-known Protestant pastor. While his content in this book is not always relevant for Catholic homilies (ie. he assumes your sermons are 30-50 minutes long, he assumes your whole audience is following along with their Bibles like a Bible study, etc.) there’s plenty of helpful tips that Catholic speakers/homilists can glean to improve our communication skills and structure our messages to engage people and lead them to deeper conversion. At first I wasn’t a fan of half the book being a parable, the other half being more direct, but I came to appreciate how they overlapped.
• 
  Robert Sutherland

  I reread this book recently after a ten or more year gap from the first reading. This book has its strengths and weaknesses. It's really two books in one telling the same information. The first part is an uncompelling "Who Moved My Cheese" parable where a trucker teaches a preacher how to to effectively communicate with his audience. That was weak and unnecessary. The second half of the book is the seminar where Stanley lays out his plan in seven stages. It is clear and actionable. For weekly church communicators this is an excellent tool, but I recommend skimming the first part and taking notes on the second.
• 
  Drew

  Good practical advice on verbal communication; a quick read but some potent insights. I would disagree with Andy about a lot regarding theology, church, and worship, but I am glad to have his insights on communication. I will be trying to put some of this into practice.
• 
  Jason Kolar

  Great book. Didn't agree with everything Andy Stanley said but took away a lot that will probably carry with me the rest of my life, and that is the essence of a 5 star book. Would definitely recommend.
• 
  Brandon Early

  Communicator's gold! Mine! If you are a communicater/Bible teacher/preacher this book is gold! Outline this book and create templates to filter your messages through. Take notes on how to filter your message after you have taught, so you learn how that message could have been stronger and to learn from and leverage that info to make your next message better!
• 
  Радостин Марчев

  Една от най-добрите (ако не и най-доброто) практични ръководства за проповядване, които съм чел. Задължителна книга за всеки комуникатор и пастир.
  Книгата е едновременно лека за четене, кратка, изключително практична и полезна и ориентирана към съвременни хора.
  Някои неща, които ме впечатлиха
  - Пълното отхвърляне на структурата на проповедта/посланието в няколко идеи/точки. Стенли предлага да изхвърлим това и да изградим всичко около една единствена основна идея, която да кажем ясно и след това да я повторим многократно, така че тя да бъде запомнена.
  - Идеята му, че не е достатъчно просто да тълкуваме последователно библията на хората следвайки, разяснявайки нейното съдържание. Необходимо е да тръгнем от нуждата на хората и след това да видим какво казва библията за тази нужда.
  - Равната важност на формата и съдържанието на посланието. Слушал съм проповедници, на които от устата им капе мед и са изключително забавни, но в края на краищата не казват нищо (или дори по-лошо). Срещал съм и смислени послания, които са представени по скучен начин и затова никой не ги чува.
  - Отказът на Стенли да приеме идеята за намаляващия период, през който хората могат да слушат съсредоточено. Ако посланието ги касае и е поднесено интересно те ще слушат доста дълго.
  - Необходимостта от сериозна и достатъчно продължителна подготовка на посланието - това е едно от нещата, в което по мои наблюдения повечето български пастири се провалят най-много.
  Без да съм особено голям фен на Анди Стенли като цяло задължителна книга.
  
• 
  Al Garlando

  This is the sequel (sort of) to "7 Practices of Effective Ministry.
  It will challenge the way you think about sermon preparation and delivery.
  For me, it means a return to what I was originally taught regarding sermons, especially the difference between preaching and teaching.
  Teaching is imparting information, whereas preaching is aimed at changing the listener.
  To do you need to keep it simple. This maximises your impact and focus.
  One of the "7 Practices" is expounded further in this book - Less for More.
  When the preacher owns his message and it owns him - or to use Stanley's language - he has a burden to communicate God's Word to the people, then he will be less concerned with homoletical structure and more interested in getting "the big idea" across to his people.
  If you're a manuscript preacher, or if you insist on always having at least 3 points per sermon - read this and be challenged - it will revolutionise your preparation process.
  
  ...
  xtra comment after I've been reading it for a while - I am being "schooled" (and not the nice/friendly way) on my preaching through reading this book. Whilst I may not take on 100% of what he says, I definitely need to renovate my preaching preparation and delivery - I just hope my Church will be patient with me while I do this. But, given they put up with me at the moment, I'm sure they will be ;)
• 
  Nat

  This is really two books in one. While the first half narrative interested me, it was the second half's principles that really hit it home.
  
  My style of speaking is on disseminating a lot of information, and I usually let my personality do the audience engagement. People pay attention, but there does not seem to be a lot of action after the fact. Some of these principles challenged me to be a more challenging speaker.
  
  Stanly's writing is very easy to follow and he does make some valid points for a topical style of preaching. To follow some of the principles in this book would be pretty tough for someone coming from an expositorial background.
• 
  Fred

  Great insights into what it takes to preach for change in people. Stanley is unapologetic about his insistence that we preach one point, that connects with the audience and that we leave them something to do. As a life-long Christian and preachers kid, Stanley is completely unafraid of what people may say about his method. He believes this is crucial; lives are on the line. He shares his famous "me, we, God, you, we" technique as well as a host of important questions to ask when you get stuck. Practical, important, thoroughly well reasoned, must reading for any preacher.
• 
  Paul Decker

  I confess. I was tempted to be skeptical about another book on communication, and especially about preparing a message and delivering it. But I tried it. I began applying a few of the principles and I could not believe the response the audience had. Change was happening in hearts. It was so quiet, it was like you could hear it happening (I know that sounds contradictory). So, a big thank you to Andy Stanley for teaching this old dog some new tricks. It definitely has been worth it!
• 
  Andrew

  I have read numerous books over the years by Andy Stanley, he never disappoints. You want to get on track with delivering effective and relevant sermons/messages, then I highly recommend this book for you. Easy to read, yet immensely profound and practical. Enjoy the read!
• 
  Temi Agbaje

  I think the title in some ways speaks for itself! A great, compelling, and entertaining book on how to become an effective communicator when preaching, teaching, or just speaking (you could argue that's what you do in all three, oh well). Yes, you should read it.
• 
  John Richards

  Andy has a rather unique approach to preaching/communicating. A pretty easy read. His outlining method is something I'd like to try soon.
• 
  Ross Slough

  Very helpful and practical for me personally. Also, Andy is such an authentic and conversational writer which made for a really fun read.
• 
  Ross Leikvoll

  Absolutely phenomenal book!! Definitely one of the best books I've ever read on communication! I couldn't recommend it more!!
• 
  Matt Crawford

  Told via a narrative this book is supposed to give tips on how to deliver a message but it seems more on how to present distractions so your audience is entertained
• 
  Susan Barnes

  I had a mixed response to, Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley. Some parts were very helpful, but other parts were not.
  
  Andy Stanley is a strong believer in sermons having one main point, which is a helpful way of preparing a sermon. Other points add to the main point. He also spoke about having a goal and engaging your audience. He made valuable comments about these things. Andy would say the goal of preaching is to change lives, but for me, I would say my goal is to change minds. If people’s minds are renewed, their lives will automatically change.
  
  Then, there were several ideas in the book I didn’t relate to. The book begins with a fictional section where a pastor is discouraged because his congregation seems disengaged with his messages. This fictitious pastor spends time with a speaker in his truck as he travels across the country, discussing various aspects of preaching. I found this a long-winded way of introducing the topic and not one that I connect with. I skipped over this part of the book and went to the theory section. After I finished the book I did go back and read all the first part, which did emphasis Andy’s main points, but I still felt it was far too lengthy.
  
  The other difficult I had was with one of Andy’s points, which he calls internalizing the message. This is so you can preach the message without notes. As he expounds this thought, it becomes obvious that he expects speakers to be great story tellers, who don’t repeat themselves or get lost in the details. Since I’m not that kind of speaker, I actually found this discouraging.
  
  Nevertheless overall, there was enough good information in the book to make it a worthwhile read.
  
  Update: After writing this review, I listened to several of Andy Stanley’s podcasts. I was surprised. It wasn’t obvious that he was following his own directives, which suggests to me, he isn’t bound to the seven imperatives that he listed in his book. I have also been listening to recordings of myself preach, one of Andy’s suggestions, and I have found this particularly helpful.
  
• 
  Michael Vincent

  There are many good things I like about this book on preaching and communication. I was certainly challenged in many ways. So much of what he says is helpful and true. Preaching is about application and life change. We need to keep working at it. The story which was used in the first half of the book was fine. But throughout the book it comes across to me that Stanley does not value enough the power of the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. So much seems to depend upon the performance of the communicator. Some of this is cultural. We also know that just because a person can draw a crowd, does not mean that God is at work. I wish he would have specifically addressed whether he qualifies Haddon Robinson's "big idea" as the one point, with the outline supporting that big idea, or whether outlines are never appropriate. I assume his training at DTS focused on this Big Idea with preaching. I found much of what he stated in his chapter on internalize the message as contradicting some of his other statements. Though he talked much about not taking an outline onto the stage (he doesn't like pulpits), he then tells you he often puts quotes in his Bible, along with an outline. He also states, "But I'm such a believer in the power of a well-crafted statement I would rather read it correctly than try to remember it and turn a clear point into a fuzzy one."(p. 140) But isn't that why many people use a manuscript - because they want to get the words right? Again, there were many good reminders in this book and it is worth a read, but as he said, we must continue to work at being ourselves, while continuing to work at the craft of preaching. We can all further develop as preachers of the Word of God. I am so thankful that God can use a variety of communicators to change lives for His glory.