As I look back on, the areas where I grew in communication, I really enjoyed the opportunity to speak in a number of different settings, speaking in a Christian context, both in the preaching and in a youth ministry talk. I also had an opportunity to speak in a non-Christian setting in a local company.

      It was very interesting to speak on different topics and also think through the words and phrasing I use when I'm speaking to adults, to middle schoolers. Speaking to people in a non-Christian setting was interesting as I couldn't use the same vocabulary I'm used to in my ministry setting.

    I chose to develop my skills by looking for different opportunities to speak in these different contexts.  I also used different techniques for communicating. One of the techniques I used with the youth was implementing a lot of props for them to work with as I taught them. I worked on a PowerPoint presentation for speaking in the company.

       The other area that I wanted to work on was understanding how other people speak, through interviewing speakers I respect. I spoke to a local pastor who gave some very good feedback on how to approach understanding what people need to hear. Another person I spoke to was Clay Scroggins. I asked him about how to move from speaking in the Christian world to the  secular world and communicate in a way that represents Christ.  I learned how to understand their needs and communicate like Christ without being pushy . This was a really eye-opening conversation with him.

       In terms of reading the book on communication skills, I didn't get a chance to do that with all the other things I was doing. But I believe that trying different techniques and being able to do these interviews was very helpful.