When I began experimenting with multisensory communication in 2001, I had been a pastor-teacher for twenty years. Frankly, I thought I had maxed out my ability as a communicator. Mind you, I had won an award for preaching while in Bible College, and I had continued to hone my verbal skills and homiletic delivery. But by my own calculations, by the year 2000, I had reached the limit on my communication skills. I had settled in to finish my teaching ministry as a fairly good communicator.

Again, was I in for a shock. As you will see in the following chapter, my communication effectiveness rose significantly when I switched from lecture to multisensory communication. In all three dimensions (attention, comprehension, and retention) my effectiveness rose remarkably. In fact, the average comprehension, and retention levels in the congregation rose 66.5 percent when I used dual sensory communication (verbal and visual) and 76.1 percent when I used multisensory (verbal + visual + interactive). A baseball player who raises his batting average 76.1 percent would move from a good hitter to a great hitter or from great to phenomenal!

Multisensory communication has that kind of impact. Mind you, I did not become a better speaker; I became a better communicator. I still had the same speaking talent I had always had. It was not my communication talent that elevated the results; it was the communication technique. Whether you are a good communicator or a great communicator, multisensory delivery can significantly elevate your effectiveness as a biblical communicator

Rick Blackwood, The Power of Multi-Sensory Preaching and Teaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 30–31.

Resources to help you be more multi-sensory:

Teachers: check out my video preview of the Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Lessons at http://www.sundayschooluniversity.com/

Preachers: check out my new website http://stickysermon.com/ It is a work in progress, but here is what you can expect to find. Each sermon will include:

  • A PowerPoint—most of them with embedded videos that make the point stick
  • A 15 minute coaching video where I talk to you the preacher about what I have in mind for the message, and go over any visual aids I might use.
  • A Good Question Bible Study Lesson to be used by your small groups to further reinforce the message. The same power that was at work in the Purpose Driven Life Campaign will be at work in each week’s message.
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