Is Your Message Good Enough?

Guest Post by Dr. Ron Harris

Note from Bob:  You can either view Dr. Ron Harris sharing his “Guest Post” (3 minutes & 30 seconds) or you can read his transcript below:

You work hard at crafting a message, a program, an article for publication. But is that where it ends? Is just expressing yourself or sharing truth, even biblical Truth, through radio, television, digital media or print good enough?

What happens after you send out your message? That’s the big question.

It was the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who thousands of years ago put together his model of communication. It still holds true today. Aristotle was one of the most important philosophers of ancient Greece, and arguably one of the most influential thinkers of all time. His communication model was made up of these components:

• Speaker
• Speech
• Occasion
• Audience
• Effect.

It is pretty obvious you need an audience. No communication happens if there is not a receiver of the message. But it can’t end there. I want to focus your thoughts on the final point…effect.

What do you want to happen to those who read your message, hear your program, or see your social media post? Are they moved to do anything? If not, It would be difficult to say your message was effective.

I have often used the Apostle Paul’s speech to those Greeks who lived a few hundred years after Aristotle. In Acts 17 we see his message to the men of Athens. There are several great points of the speech that he used to draw in the listeners, mentioning the statue to the unknown god, and quoting their own Greek poet. But was the message effective? At the end of the message Paul spoke of the resurrection, and that put an end to his speech.

When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” That ended Paul’s discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers.  Acts 17:32-34 NLT

It seems the message impacted everyone.

So, take time to evaluate your message. Do you get a response? Even a negative one? Do you get questions from your audience? Are some moved to action? That is when you know real communication has taken place. Strive for that in all your messages.

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