To Get Through, Go Multi-Sensory

Here's snippet #4 of my article 7 Ways to Get Through to Your People from the September 2008 issue of Pentecostal Messenger:

4. Go Multi-Sensory

Kindergarten and first-grade teachers know this rule well. When they teach the letter "A", they allow the kids to see it, sing it, taste it, feel it, smell it, draw it, and make it -- almost anything goes in teaching that letter.

The ancient Chinese also knew this rule, according to their proverb:

I hear, and I forget.
I see, and I remember.
I do, and I understand.

The ancient Chinese, in their doing, involved at least four senses -- sight, sound, smell, and touch, plus the mental and muscular processes for performing the task. All of this combined to make the task not only memorable but understandable.

In preaching, the more faculties we involve, the more the message will stick. To be unforgettable, let the audience not only hear the word, but see it, smell it, touch it, taste it, experience it, and do it.

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