Preparing for a Talk

Praise God! May the Holy Spirit dwell in you as you read this page!

Giving a talk or teaching is a blessing for you and your audience.

When you are giving a talk, you are the good shepherd for everyone there.

It is an opportunity for you to be a missionary disciple, to be God's messenger (an angel), and to help others to become holy as the Lord our God is holy. Take this opportunity to be a witness for our Lord.

There are various ways of preparing for a talk. This may even depend on the audience you will have.

Here are some tips to prepare for a talk.

• Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

  • • It is important to be pure to be a worthy temple of the Holy Spirit.

• Fast and/or offer sacrifices.

  • • This is not limited to food.

• Read the talk.

  • • A CFC teaching typically has an expanded outline. It is sprinkled with Bible verses.

    • Read and reflect on the Bible verses.

    • You may need to read the talk 2 to 3 times in different sessions. You may get a different inspiration in each reflection.

• Pray

  • • In every preparation session, pray.

    • Make your entire preparation and the delivery of your talk a prayer and an offering.

    • Always give praise and thanks to God.

    • Before you start, ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Pray for the Holy Spirit to pour on you His Gifts of Knowledge, Wisdom, Prophecy, Discernment, and, most of all, Love.

    • While preparing or working on your talk,

      • • Always ask the Lord what message He wants you to give in line with the talk contents.

        • What are your experiences and/or experiences of others that you can share and give more meaning and life to the talk?

        • What stories or verses in the Bible can you use?

        • What stories or quotations from Catholic Saints can you share?

        • Discern.

          • • Is this really God's message?

            • Will the message make your audience holier, more loving, more forgiving, and more Christ-like?

            • Will the message strengthen their faith?

    • At the end of your preparation, thank the Lord for His guidance and wisdom.

• Prepare your slides

  • • If you are not familiar with PowerPoint, here are some references to get you started.

    • Ask around. Some leaders/members in the community may already have a slide deck that you can use.

    • Search up via Google. There might be an available PowerPoint or PDF file that you can use.

• Practice

  • • Respect the time allocated for your talk.

    • Practice giving the talk.

    • Identify parts of the talk which you need to

      • • Spend more time on

        • Spend less time on

        • Emphasize

        • Give good examples for the audience to understand and remember

    • Time yourself so you know if you need to make adjustments.

• End your talk with a conclusion and action points.

  • • What do your audience need to remember and do after listening to your talk?

    • What good seed do you plant in the present and future leaders in the community?