The Power of Multisensory Preaching and Teaching: Increase Attention, Comprehension, and Retention
208
The Power of Multisensory Preaching and Teaching: Increase Attention, Comprehension, and Retention
208Paperback(Reprint)
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780310515357 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Zondervan |
| Publication date: | 06/17/2013 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 208 |
| Product dimensions: | 10.90(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.70(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Power of Multisensory Preaching and Teaching
Increase Attention, Comprehension, and Retention
By Rick Blackwood
Zondervan
Copyright © 2008
Rick Blackwood
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-28097-2
Chapter One WELCOME: TO THE MULTISENSORY REVOLUTION
Equipped with five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science. Edwin Hubble
Do you consider yourself a good communicator or a great communicator? If you consider yourself a good communicator, would you like to elevate to great? If you are already a great communicator, would you like to raise the bar to phenomenal? You can! And relax! - it's not going to complicate your life.
Imagine teaching the Bible with such captivation that people "sit on the edge of their seats" with interest. Imagine being so understandable that people who normally "don't get it" do in fact "get it" when you teach. Imagine being so graphic and so explicit in your explanations of biblical content that people find it unforgettable. Captivating, understandable, and unforgettable. Can you imagine the effect?
Think of the effect on your church! Your audience would grasp the text you teach, catch the vision you cast, and become "doers of the Word" instead of hearers only. Such is the effect of multisensory communication; welcome to the revolution.
Interestingly, a host of pastor-teachers already utilize this method of teaching, and they do so because of its powerful effect! It is called multisensory because it interfaces with multiple senses. Unlike conventional preaching, which stimulates only the sense of hearing, multisensory communication stimulates multiple senses - that is, the senses of hearing, seeing, touching, and sometimes even smell and taste.
Instead of engaging only the ears of your congregation, multisensory communication enables you to engage their ears, eyes, and hands, and it brings more of the whole person into the learning process.
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS
The identifying characteristics of multisensory preaching are the use of props, object lessons, interactive tools, video clips, drama, art, music, thematic backdrops, food, water, smells, and other creative elements that stimulate sensory perception. A growing number of pastor-teachers are making use of multisensory communication to elevate the impact of their teaching, and they are doing so without compromising the integrity of biblical teaching.
SENSITIVE TO THE SENSES
Simply put, the multisensory teacher recognizes the senses as information receptors. In other words, the senses act as antennas, which receive information and then transmit that information to the brain for processing, learning, and acting.
With that neurological fact in mind, the multisensory teacher aims his teaching at as many of those receptors as possible, knowing the more senses he stimulates in the teaching, the higher the levels of learning in the audience.
In addition, the multisensory teacher understands that people have learning preferences by which they prefer to learn and by which they learn best. Stated another way: Some people in our congregations prefer to learn by hearing; others need to see the concept in order to learn it; still many others learn best by interacting with the teacher. Bible teacher John Mac- Arthur reminds us of learning preferences when he writes: "How do you learn best? Preferences vary from person to person."
The multisensory communicator is sensitive to individual learning preferences and strategically plans his teaching to connect with all learners in his audience, not just some of them. Recognizing that a congregation will be filled with auditory learners, visual learners, and interactive learners, the multisensory teacher varies his teaching style and mixes verbal, visual, and interactive elements in his communication.
THE POWER OF VISUAL
During the doctoral research that gave birth to this book, I confirmed a hunch I had. People have higher levels of attention, comprehension, and retention when teaching is presented in a visually rich form. In fact, God wired our brains for visuals. According to 3M Corporation, we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. This is because we take in data from text in a sequential fashion, while we process visuals in an instant. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. For example, it would take at least a thousand words to tell you about how Christ Fellowship, the church in Miami where I serve, was damaged during Hurricane Andrew. Or, I could show you a picture.
Which is faster? Which is more memorable? Which etches the image into your mind?
Dr. Lynell Burmark, in her work Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn, says there is a natural progression in the way we process information: "First the image, then the thoughts." She tells of a letter circulating on the Internet describing a young boy's reaction to this beautiful sunset. "Dear God, I didn't think purple and orange went together until I saw the sunset you created on Tuesday. That was cool." - Eugene
"I didn't think until I saw." Sometimes we don't really comprehend something until we see it. Job expressed the "seeing = comprehension" sequence when he wrote: "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5). My ears had heard, but now my eyes see. Translation? "Now that I see, I understand better!"
Can image-rich communication have that same effect in your congregation? Absolutely! A report published by the Xerox Corporation years ago revealed that 83 percent of what we learn comes through our sight. In fact, recent research discovered that using visual imagery took 40 percent less time to explain complex ideas. Helen Keller, who was mute, deaf, and blind, expressed this about sight: "Of all the senses, sight must be the most delightful."
THE POWER OF INTERACTION
During my research, I discovered another fact about which I had a hunch. People learn even more when we add interaction to verbal and visual communication. A Chinese proverb goes something like this:
I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.
Though that quote may not be exact, it does highlight the effect of teaching that includes hearing, seeing, and interaction. I once heard a public school teacher talk about this approach in terms of teaching a child. She gave an example of teaching a child about the wonders of the ocean and offered three teaching options:
Option #1: Talk to the child about the ocean. Now, ask the child to talk about what she learned.
Option #2: Talk about the ocean and show the child photographs of the ocean. Show her images of its color and vast horizons. Show her pictures of the sunset. Now ask her to talk about what she has learned.
Option #3: Go to the ocean, and insert one five-year-old. Let her feel the sand between her toes, let her experience the waves, let her smell the salt-water air, and let her splash and swim in the tide. Now, let's talk to her about the wonder of God's ocean.
The above sequence moves the student from a monosensory learning experience (hearing only) to a dual-sensory experience (hearing and seeing) to a multisensory experience (hearing, seeing, smelling, and touching).
The research in this book demonstrates that the more senses we stir in the learner, the higher the levels of learning. This is true in the classroom, and it is true in the worship center. Though we cannot insert our congregation into the ocean, we can insert them into the learning process. We can show them visual images and use interactive tools to involve them in the learning process. By the way, which teaching option would you prefer to learn by? 1, 2, or 3?
THE MULTISENSORY REVOLUTION
Many pastors and Christian educators have embraced the power of multisensory communication, and they have begun a preaching-teaching revolution. I use the word "revolution" because for years, traditional teaching methodologies have ignored the role of the senses in learning. All too often, traditional teaching has also ignored the different learning styles and sensory preferences through which a student maximizes learning and accelerates learning rates.
This trend has been especially pervasive in public education. Failure to recognize learning styles in public schools has promoted a standard lecture format for teaching, which has frustrated the learning of many. Many public school educators dispatch a "one size fits all" style of teaching, i.e. lecture, and they ignore the fact that each person brings to the learning environment a unique set of learning characteristics. The fact is: One "teaching style" does not fit all "learning styles."
Even more unfortunate is the fact that the church has caught "the lecture disease." The same lecture methodology that dominates public education pervades the evangelical church. As opposed to being open to the multisensory teaching models of the Bible, the church has mimicked the "one size fits all" methodology of the culture. Such lecture teaching has curtailed the full impact of teaching the Word and resulted in less "doing of the Word." It is time for a change. Educator Stephen Brookfield provokes all teachers to reflect on communication methodology when he writes:
Sooner or later, something happens that forces the teacher to confront the possibility that they may be working with assumptions that don't really fit their situations. Recognizing the discrepancy between what is and what should be is often the beginning of the critical journey.
THE MULTISENSORY REVIVAL
A "revival" of multisensory communication is taking hold in today's evangelical church. I use the term "revival," because multisensory communication is as old as the Bible itself. For years, multisensory teaching methodologies were jettisoned from the church and considered simple, unsophisticated, and even ungodly. Today, however, many pastors and Christian educators are reviving multisensory teaching strategies, and the effect is remarkable. In fact, after significant research in the disciplines of theology, neurology, and cognitive experiments, our findings conclusively demonstrate that multisensory teaching can make us more effective communicators. And if you're like this pastor, you can use all the help you can get.
All of us who teach God's Word want to captivate people's attention, and then impart the truth of God's Word in a way that is understandable and memorable. Multisensory communication raises that capability. It has helped many pastors and Christian teachers to be more captivating, more understandable, and more memorable.
What I love about multisensory teaching is that it transforms biblical teaching from both sides of the communication dynamic, that is, the teacher and the congregation.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Power of Multisensory Preaching and Teaching by Rick Blackwood Copyright © 2008 by Rick Blackwood. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 9
Part 1 Presenting the Multisensory Effect
1 Welcome: To the Multisensory Revolution 13
2 Elevate: From Good to Phenomenal Communication 22
3 Expect: Dramatic Results 40
4 Eyewitness: The Neurological Proof 60
5 Embrace: The Theological Endorsement 73
6 Experience: The Power of Bible Exposition and Multisensory Communication 82
Part 2 Preparing a Multisensory Message
7 Preparation: Get Ready for Multisensory Journeys 91
8 Process: Designing Multisensory Journeys 106
9 Procedures: Effective Use of Multisensory Components 126
Part 3 Preaching a Multisensory Message
10 Attention: Make Sure You Get It 147
11 Comprehension: Make Sure They Get It 162
12 Retention: Make Sure They Never Forget It 177
Epilogue: You Have to Read This Story 189
Appendix A Research Design and Methodology 192
Appendix B Sermon Series Using Artwork 197
Endnotes 201
Photo Credits 207
What People are Saying About This
We have all heard the statistics, that listeners retain a lot more of what we are saying if we can help them to do more than simply hear it. Believing the statistics to be true, we have dabbled with object lessons, drama, and PowerPointTM, all in the effort to utilize a broader range of sensory appeal. Finally, now we have a resource that confirms what we have long suspected. Rich Blackwood not only gives us the research, but he gives us a method that is practical, sustainable, and steeped in expository conviction. This is a book for preachers that are already good at what they do, increasing their communication quotient so as to deepen their listener's engagement with the Word. -- Kenton C. Anderson, Author of Choosing to Preach, and www.preaching.org
We have all heard the statistics, that listeners retain a lot more of what we are saying if we can help them to do more than simply hear it ... Now we have a resource that confirms what we have long suspected. Rich Blackwood not only gives us the research, but he gives us a method that is practical, sustainable, and steeped in expository conviction. -- Kenton C. Anderson, Author of Choosing to Preach, and www.preaching.org
When Jesus preached he immersed people in truth. Rick Blackwood will help you do the same. -- Kent Edwards, Professor of Preaching & Leadership