Dazzle the children in your Kid’s Church by making every facet of your Bible Stories sparkle and they’ll reward you with attentiveness and good behaviour.  And while you’ve got them engaged, receiving Godly truths into their hearts, you know the Holy Spirit will continue to work long after the lesson is over.

1.  Make Eye Contact

• Our eyes communicate so much
• Looking at the children as you teach communicates interest
• You can monitor feedback
• You can gain attentiveness
• Try and make eye contact with each child at least once during the lesson, more if you’re in small groups

2. Vary Your Voice

• Don’t speak in a monotone
• Change volume (The quieter your voice gets, the more important the message, like telling a secret, but use sparingly)
• Use pauses (Builds suspense and emphasizes the word or sentence that follows, gives the children time to digest what was said)
• Change the rate of speech (Too fast and the children will get tired of straining to listen, too slow and the children will get bored)
• Be aware of your tone (Does your voice have energy? Are you tired or angry?  Your tone must match the words you say)
• Use inflection
  • Upward inflection indicates questioning, insincerity, surprise or suspense
  • Downward inflection indicates confidence, finality, power and certainty
  • Level inflection indicates disinterest and indecision
• Pronounce words correctly (Practice those tricky Bible names like King Ahasuerus aka Xerxes!)
• Articulate (Don’t mumble, be clear and distinct)

3.  Use Lively Language

• Use words that create clear images in the children’s minds

4.  Purposeful Actions

• Use movement and gestures to add interest
• Gives life to your teaching

5.  Visual Display

• The more the children see, the more they retain
• Gives you cues on what’s next in your story

6.  Note Free Delivery

• Allows you freedom to step away from the lectern, podium or pulpit
• Too much dependence on notes interferes with behaviour management
• Adds to your credibility as a source of information

If you use these 6 ways to make your teaching sparkle, you’ll polish up your storytelling and every Bible Lesson will surely shine… and so will you!