Matt: If you’ve ever felt like your lessons to students are good but could be better, do we have the book and seminar for you! This past week I attended a one day seminar on Speaking to Teenagers, put on by Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins. I would highly recommend this 
seminar to anyone who is in student ministry. It’s not just designed for pastors, it’s designed for anyone who is speaking to teenagers. As a student ministry small group leader I picked up tons of ideas and pointers. This past summer I had read the book, Speaking to Teenagers and now I want to re-read the book after attending the seminar. If this seminar comes to your area I highly recommend you attend.
This goes without saying, but Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins are probably two of the top authorities when it comes to student ministry. At the very least get the book and read it and you will quickly learn how to put together messages that stick, inductive speaking techniques, how to use humor and stories to bring your lesson alive.
I’ve been privileged to speak to our high school ministry a few times and I know the next time I will definitely follow the ideas and proven methods from this seminar.
Steven: I’ll echo Matt’s praise for the seminar and, ultimately, the book by Doug and Duffy. I read through it over the summer, and it was a great read. Super practical, but also great for communication theory. I think a lot of youth workers are great at one, but need to know the other to be effective.
My favorite was the large section on message prep. Doug and Duffy offer a great way to prepare for messages, rather than just waiting until the night before to get started! More than that, they give great tips and suggestions for using time as effectively as possible and using resources wisely.
