In an article on “How to Fully Engage Listeners” for PreachingToday.com, Rob Bell writes: “I work on teachings for as long as four to six months, a year. You’d think I was obnoxious because if we go out to lunch I’ll be diagramming on a napkin.
“If you’re married and I said, ‘Tell me about your wedding day,’ you could tell it to me. You wouldn’t say, “I forgot my notes.” No, you just tell me.
“Those of you who have kids, if I asked, ‘How old are your kids, and what are their names?’ You won’t say, “I have my notes some place. I don’t have my PowerPoint with me.” No. Boom, boom, boom, these are the ages. Why? Because it’s a part of you.
“What if your teaching was such a part of you it was like telling about your wedding day or like telling about your first job? What would it be like if you could tell it like it was a story you told 200 times?
“That’s my passion. I have found the harder I work and the farther out I’ve been working on it, the more freedom I have.
“The people who are listening to you, they know when it’s become a part of you. They can feel when the speaker is just giving some information and observation, and they know when it is coming right through your soul.”