Richard Nash spent his career as a writer and a speaker (not always by choice). He worked in management and marketing for Intermountain Healthcare for 35 years and previously served as a speechwriter and jokewriter for political and corporate leaders. He’s a former bishop and has also served as stake Young Men president, Gospel Doctrine teacher, and nursery leader. Most recently he is the author of 3 Keys to Help You Give a Better Talk. His previous book, Lengthen Your Smile, is a best-selling collection of brief stories (most of them funny) that illustrate faith-based ideals. Richard and his wife, Laurie, have three children and four grandchildren.

02:10 Introduction to Richard and his book, 3 Keys to Help You Give a Better Talk 07:50 Richard’s book was inspired by David O. McKay. 10:40 Principle 1: Have an objective

14:30 Is your lesson objective clear? How can you make it clear? 16:20 Richard shares his own personal experience of giving a talk and creating a clear objective and an attention grabbing opener. 17:45 Principle 2: Share examples

22:30 Richard shares how he uses his own personal stories to connect with people. 28:00 Tips for sharing stories

32:45 Principle 3: Emphasize application

36:00 The typical sacrament meeting talk is on a conference talk. We are putting their talk in our words. What can we do differently? 37:00 Nervousness is part of giving a talk. It makes us humble and gives us the experience of leaning on the Holy Spirit. 45:00 Is humor appropriate in a sacrament talk? 51:00 Tips for preparing a talk when you are assigned a topic or given a conference talk to speak to 53:50 Oftentimes our objective in Sunday School is to cover the material or certain chapters of scripture. We need to take the time to search those scriptures to find an objective that will help people live their lives. 57:15 Write down notes, quotes, and make an outline but don’t write out your talk verbatim. This allows the Spirit to interrupt us and give us guidance.

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