In dealing with this topic, I shall not confine my observations solely to what others have said and written, but shall also speak of what I have observed in my own preaching and in the preaching of my fellow workers. Aclergyman once said, "No public speaker has a right to inflict upon his hearers offensive mannerisms, and the minister, of all men, needs to be free from them." Let us deal with a number of specific things.
I. Be Yourself.—But do not try to be yourself at any cost, especially if you are too noticeably odd for your own good and for the edification of your audience. On the other hand, do not try to imitate someone else to the extent that you may be even more peculiar. Be yourself, but be sure that yourself is the type whose pulpit manners are elevating and uplifting—in keeping with the high calling of the gospel minister.
Generally you find more in your audience who are looking to see how you perform than who are listening to what you say. The more uncouth your mannerisms, the more your audience see and the less they hear. The more dignified your manner, provided it is not unnaturally stiff, the less they see and the more they hear. We want our audience to hear; that is the reason we preach the Word.
2. Be Calm—When you get up to preach, stand still ! Pause for a bit, and thereafter remember that you are in church and not on a race track or in a boxing arena. Avoid all useless nervous movements. They are annoying. Did you ever see a speaker play with his watch chain, pull at his collar, twist his coat buttons, vigorously search through his pockets, stroke his hair, scratch his nose, lick and smack his lips, or nervously pull his coat and trousers into place? If a speaker wants his audience to think calmly he himself must be calm and composed.
3. Be Heard.—Within reason, of course. The voice plays an important part in this question of pulpit manners. Did you ever listen to a monotone-voiced preacher on high, intermediate, or low pitch? There is only one thing worse, and that is a speaker who thinks he should carry on in all three pitches at the same time.
Then there is the shouting preacher. No matter how small the room and audience, he just must be heard, even though not understood.
And there is the speaker who has no conception of when to lower and when to raise his voice. When he should come down he goes up, and when he should go up he conies down. That was the trouble with the preacher who quoted Revelation 14:6. With a loud voice he started, "I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven," and so on, "saying with a loud voice," etc. And then instead of giving the angel's message in a louder tone, he fairly went into a whisper as he continued: "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come."
We all enjoy listening to the speaker who makes us feel comfortable and attentive by his easy modulation, his pleasing articulation, his intelligible enunciation, and his dignified bearing.
4. Use Gestures.—Not too many, not too few. Do not stand like a marble statue, nor go on a wild rampage. Gestures are for emphasis and not for exercise. Remember that you are in the sacred desk and not in a gysnasium.
Wild, purposeless gestures destroy, rather than help emphasize, the message. Moreover, a gesture, ever so good, if it becomes a habit, ceases to be a gesture for emphasis and becomes a bad mannerism. Sometimes there are those who apparently are very conscious of their solemn responsibility to the point where they overwork solemnity, piety, and humility. They endeavor to impress by self-repression. There is no smile, no look of victory or triumph in their faces, no sparkle in their eyes, no challenge in their walk, no punch in their preaching.
Perhaps it is due to some erroneous idea that a minister must be humble, pious, and meek to the point where it is forced. Do they not know that "true humility" and "genuine piety," when brought on exhibition, cease to be humility and piety and that they then assume the role of self-glory? As ministers, we should be humble and pious in a natural way, but let us not overwork these divine graces to the point of affectations.
Notice the preacher with his stiff, long, regular, horizontal sweeps as his arm sways from right to left and left to right, repeated over and over again. You should think that he was vigorously fanning a fainting audience. Another minister vigorously overworks the up and down pump-handle motion of the forearm.
Then there is the speaker who repeatedly bends his elbows at right angles and then brings his hands together till the tips of his fingers and thumbs touch for just a moment. Then he suddenly releases them, and starts the process all over again. All mannerisms are bad, but perhaps no speaker is more trying to the audience than the one who works all sets of gestures in almost regular succession. When one set comes, you are absolutely sure that the other sets will soon follow in the same way and the same order.
A pastor of a large church in a Western city describes another speaker in the following words : "He would rush to one end of the rostrum, lift his hands high above his head, clench them as if for a blow, bend his knees to about forty-five degrees, and bring his fists down violently, at the same time shouting the concluding words of a sentence often begun at the pulpit."
Some speakers have odd gestures which do not originate with their feet and hands. An observer describes one thus : "The fault probably originated in the habit of moistening his lips with his tongue while speaking. From this it had grown into thrusting the tip of his tongue out at the right side of his mouth, doing it at times even in the midst of a sentence. By actual count that tongue came out -twenty-six times in five minutes, and three times in the midst of a sentence of not more than ten words."
Did you ever watch a speaker who never looked at his audience? Where did he look? Everywhere else ! Why not talk to, and look at, your audience instead of the walls and ceilings! The audience likes to be seen and noticed as much as the preacher does !
6. Be Neat.—We are known by what we say, by how we act, and by what we wear. We read: "The influence of the minister who is careless in his dress is displeasing to God."—Gospel Workers, p. 174. And shall we add, to his hearers also?
The minister's clothes should be neat. Ill-fitting clothes should be avoided. Let us always endeavor to appear well groomed on the rostrum.
Finally, how about the ministers sitting behind you? The sad part of it all is that some become entirely oblivious to where they are. And so we are led to say: What poses ! What habits ! What mannerisms ! One toys with his notebook, his brief case, his hymnal, his tie, his handkerchief. Another one crosses his left leg over the right, then the right over the left, after which he shifts his position. Finally, he slides downward and forward on his chair, extending the soles of his shoes in billboard fashion toward the audience. What a sight ! Worse yet, he is absolutely unaware of it all.
Still another incessantly whispers while he is on the platform. Being inattentive, he loses out on the speaker's text, and so must ask his neighbor. As soon as he finds the text, he comments on it. After a brief pause something else comes to his mind and again he engages in a conversation with his neighbor. Both become enthusiastic over it, and finally climax the affair with a chuckle.
Brethren, this should not be ! Let us do our planning and visiting before we enter the pulpit, and thereafter listen. Always be a good listener, no matter how dry the talk. Remember, the next message may be delivered by you, and could be even drier.
There is a proper position for ministers to assume on the rostrum during prayer. Sometimes ministers are not aware of awkward positions in standing, sitting, or kneeling any more than they are aware of other conspicuous pulpit manners. I shall leave it to our audience as to what extent long prayers, long sermons, and long announcements may be considered bad manners. Habits and mannerisms imperceptibly fasten themselves upon us. We are not aware of our transgressions. We need to examine ourselves for such errors. How many ministers have discovered too late that their ministry has been sadly crippled, all because they have fallen into some pulpit mannerisms, often of a seemingly insignificant nature in their beginnings, but growing into such faults as to be a serious offense to their hearers.
Blessed is that minister whose wife knows how to discover and how to administer in these matters, without cramping his spirit or shattering his initiative to achieve greater heights. Paul said : "Giving no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed." 2 Cor. 6:3.
