Stan Toler - The Inspirational Speakers Resource: Tools for Reaching Your Audience Every Time

Copyright 2009
by Stan Toler and Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City

2014 eISBN 978-0-8341-3338-9

Printed in the
United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher. If you have received this publication from any source other than an online bookstore, you've received a pirated copy. Please contact us at the Nazarene Publishing House and notify us of the situation.

Cover Design: J.R. Caines
Interior Design: Sharon Page

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the HolyBible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked kjv are from the King James Version.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Toler, Stan.
The inspirational speakers resource : tools for reaching your audience every time / Stan Toler.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8341-2449-3 (pbk.)
1. Public speaking. 2. Public speakingReligious aspectsChristianity.
I. Title.

PN4121.T65 2009
808.5'1dc22

2009012815

PUBLIC SPEAKING

Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners. In public speaking, as in any form of communication, there are five basic elements, often expressed as who is saying what to whom using what medium with what effects? The purpose of public speaking can range from simply transmitting information, to motivating people to act, to simply telling a story.

CONTENTS

Dr. Stan Toler is a great friend of Beacon Hill Press. In fact, Beacon Hill has had the privilege of serving as Stans publisher for more than 30 years. His first title, Essentials in Evangelism, was released in 1979. Stan was 28 years old. Essentials of Evangelism sold more than 20,000 copies, a great success by any measure. This debut title was the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership between writer and publisher.

The Inspirational Speakers Resource is Stans 71st book. In my view, it may be one of his most important. Dr. John Maxwell calls Stan a pastor to Americas pastors. Stan has invested his life in the higher calling of mentoring and training pastors, equipping them to become shepherds who model servanthood and excellence in leadership to their local faith communities. Anyone can be a pastor; it takes an extraordinary commitment to become a shepherd, Stan says. He should know. His shepherding journey took him through Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee before he settled in Oklahoma, where he has spent the last 25 years building Trinity Church of the Nazarene from a congregation of 300 to more than 1000 persons.

During his tenure at Trinity, Stan has continued to invest in a legacy of pastoral health. Mid-America Christian University established the Stan Toler Leadership Institute, which is specifically created to equip and train pastoral students. To date, more than 69,000 students have been touched through the Institute, which is getting ready to expand to other campuses.

A significant part of Stans equipping regimen is training leaders to be excellent communicators and pulpiteers. There is no substitute for good preaching and teaching, Stan says. Effective communication is essential for success in every area of life. Leaders can not afford to be poor communicators.

Stan knows this firsthand. He has spoken in more than 10,000 settings in his career, and not all of those were in church. Stan takes his message to leaders around the world in corporate settings as well as seminars, conferences, and workshops. More than a million participants have attended Stans seminars, and sales of his books top the two-million mark.

Professionals know that the ability to communicate publicly is an essential skill for upward mobility within a company setting. In The Inspirational Speakers Resource, Stan gives us all the tools we need to succeed in whatever situation we are in, whether its a simple demonstration at work or a more formal presentation in front of a large and diverse audience.

In this book, you will find tips on overcoming stage fright (one of the top five fears of people, according to just about any such list you reference), techniques for motivating your audience, and tools for organizing your thoughts. In addition, Stan has included top 10 lists, humorous stories, quotations, and anecdotes to energize and transform your presentations. He doesnt stop there. He also provides practical skills to enhance your public persona, including both verbal and nonverbal communication.

Thank you, Stan, for your generous spirit and your lasting contribution to the ministry of pastors, laypersons, and leaders. They may never meet you in person or have the privilege of shaking your hand, but they have been shaped by your dedication and your care.

Happy 30th anniversary, Stan. Beacon Hill Press is proud to be your publisher.

Bonnie Perry

Director, Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City

Special thanks to Bonnie Perry, Barry Russell, Richard Buckner, and the entire Beacon Hill team. Thanks also to Deloris Leonard, Jerry Brecheisen, and Pat Diamond for editorial assistance.

I have a dream.

Just words? Of course not! The combination of letters and words in that phrase from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s history-making speech during the civil rights movement of the 1960s inspired millions. The entire speech was spoken with dynamic energy, focused on the needs of the audience, and delivered with the right technique.

The Greatest Speech

Another speech contained these anointed words, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matt. 5:8). They were from the Sermon on the Mount, which tops every speech. They were spoken by a carpenter apprentice who also was the Son of God. They did more than inspire. They brought healing and wholeness and have been the foundation for reform and revival across generations.

Public speaking provides the rare opportunity to change lives, to inspire and heal, to inform and motivate. It is a high calling.

Ten Thousand Sermons Later

I admit it. I am not a man of few words.

For the last three decades I have traveled around the planet in planes, buses, taxis, and rental cars and have spoken to audiences of several or several thousandin auditoriums, online, and on radio and TV. A while back I tallied up just the number of sermons I had preached, not counting speeches or seminars. The 10,000-sermon total wasnt that surprising. I began speaking from a church platform when I was a teenagerand my sons would say I havent stopped preaching yet.

Along the way, Ive shared platforms and stages with some of the great inspirational and motivational speakers of our time. Ive watched them in the moments before they spoke to their waiting audiences. Ive taken notes during their delivery. Ive asked them about the techniques that have served them so well. Ive heard the stories that drove home their beliefs. This book combines the years of listening with the years of speaking. The Inspirational SpeakersResource is both about technique and resourcesabout