GUEST POST: 5 Tips for Writing A Message Teens Will Listen To

In those times, negative thoughts creep into your mind. “I’m just not interesting.” Or “Teens don’t care what I have to say.” Or “Why are they ignoring me?”

Keeping the attention of teens ranks among the hardest communicative challenges out there. Here are some quick tips to spice up your talks for teenagers.

Tip #1 Care About What You’re Saying

Study until you care about it. Don’t pick a topic just because you “feel you should talk about it.” Pick topics you feel are essential and study them until you find something that interests you.

Try this. Instead of having a “main theme” for your talk, write “the thing about this topic that matters is…”

The Bible isn’t boring. The more you dig, the more fascinating it gets. One of your primary roles is to take the time to sift through the dull and uncover the fascinating. Keep studying until you find gold, the thing that made you think “Whoa! Neat! I didn’t know that!”

If you’re struggling to answer why you care about your topic, try the last tip on this list.

Tip #2 Include Tweetable Moments

This is the generational equivalent of finding your main point. Consider your central focus and condense it down to 140 characters. If you can’t do that, you don’t know what you’re talking about well enough yet.

You can also use this strategy for other critical ideas in the talk. Instead of asking, “what do I want them to remember” ask, “what would I hope they tweet?”

Tip #3 Let Them Listen To Your Message, Don’t Make Them Read It

Visual aids matter. A well-timed picture on the screen or diagram on a flip chart can add an extra punch to your point. Many speakers make the mistake of putting their entire talk in a bullet-point form on the screen. It takes away from the experience of the message if I’m reading every point behind you. (And it ruins it if I can just read ahead on the screen.)

Use the screen (or other visual aids) sparingly. Less is more, and you will develop a better speaking rhythm if you’re not trying to read the slides every other sentence.

Tip #4 Don’t Tell Them What You Want, Tell Them What You Know

One of my pet peeves is when a speaker is talking, and they say, “What I want you to do is…” or “I want you to think about…” to emphasize their main point. If you’ve crafted your message well, it will lead the listener to a place where they want what you want. The talk shouldn’t be about what the speaker wants; it should be about what the listener gets.

Here’s an example.

Method 1:

I want you to think about your prayer life; how much do you pray, what I want you to do is pray more this week because I want you to have a new perspective.

Method 2:

Prayer changes people. If you pray more, if you take the time to pray each day, or every other day, or just more than you’re praying right now, it will change your perspective.

Maybe it’s just personal preference, but I’m much more inclined to shake up my prayer life when it is presented the second way.

Tip #5 Care About Them

The first tip was to care about your topic. You’ll speak best on subjects that are important to you. This last tip is similar, but it’s about your audience. In the same way, you must ask, “Why do I care about what I’m saying?” you should ask, “Why does it matter if they hear it?”

The key is to answer this question, “How will our lives change if we live this?” Knowing the answer to this question will get you fired up, and half the battle to giving the message teens want to listen to is firing yourself up.

Speaking to teens is a famine or feast. Take time to prepare a worthwhile feast. You’ll never succeed in force-feeding a teenager; you can’t make them eat. What you can do is prepare a meal that excites you! Create an appetite with your enthusiasm and give them a taste of what they could have if they dig in.

What topic are you excited to share with your students?