Description

When I set out to do this podcast, one of the questions I was really eager to answer was: How do the strongest communicators PRACTICE their talks? And honestly except for a few different ideas here and there - it seems like people mostly don’t practice talks from start to finish.  And there are a lot of reasons for that - they often give the same talk over and over, they practice particular bits of their talks, they practice the opener and closer, but improvise a bit more based on a structure in between.  

But in my conversation with Dave Rinaldi today, I got the first really satisfying and challenging answer to this question.  He has a very particular approach that will, I think, challenge and surprise you.  We get into towards the end, so buckle up!  We’re going for a fun ride together. 

David Rinaldi is the Vice President of Mission for NET Ministries. He trains and equips NET's missionaries to bring the Gospel to 100,000 people each year. David has 20 years of ministry experience with youth and young adults and has given over 1,500 presentations to a variety of audiences and has never been run out of town. Yet. 

Please connect with David at his website catholicspeaker.org

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

Christianity could’ve been about making a trip to outer space to search out, grope in the dark, and hope to find a God who loves us - far away from our actual lives, but in reality - the truth is - God came right to us - right into the actual mess of our lives.  

And this is where we pick up today with the inimitable Chris Padgett.  We talk about all sorts of things,  but a theme emerges throughout. In the speaker and in the audience - BE WHO YOU ARE - drop our false pretenses, get real and welcome God where he most wants to go - right into our messy lives.   

Chris Padgett is a brilliant speaker, musician, and author who has traveled around the world for over two decades giving concerts, talks, parish missions and retreats to all ages about the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. A convert to Catholicism, he has an MA in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville.  Chris has published numerous books and articles, and has been involved in video, television and radio for many years. He and his wife, Linda, have been married over 27 years and have nine children. The Padgetts live in Central New York in a nine sided home with a donkey, goats, chickens, and too many rabbits. 

Please connect with Chris and subscribe to his email list at chrispadgett.com

And check out the books he recommended at the end of the episode

The Roundhouse by Louise Erdrich - Amazon Link

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger - Amazon Link 

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger - Amazon Link 

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel - Amazon Link 

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

It says in John 4:32 that Jesus’ food and drink is to “do the will of the one who sent me.” The one who sent him was God the Father. In my lifetime in Catholic speaking and teaching, there’s always been less of an emphasis on the first person of the trinity, God the Father. Jesus has had the spotlight, and occasionally you hear people preach and teach on the HS, especially if you are in charismatic circles, like I am.

But have you noticed, though, in the last handful of years that’s been changing. More and more people are speaking, teaching, and preaching on God the Father, and by association, who we are as sons and daughters of God. I love this move, especially as an adoptive parent myself and one who has struggled with the experience of fatherlessness in my own life. I need and the world needs so badly to know the perfect Fatherhood of God.

And in my conversation today with Brett Powell, God the Father, his words, his actions, his promptings moved right to the center of the conversation.

Brett Powell has been a leader in the new evangelization for the past 30 years serving in various roles - as a parish youth minister, campus missionary, as a senior executive with Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) Canada and currently as the Archbishop’s Delegate for Ministries and Development in the Archdiocese of Vancouver. He has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Royal Roads and has been a leadership coach/consultant in the Church and corporate world for several years working with Executives, Priests, Bishops and lay leaders. Brett and his wife Andrea are high school sweethearts and the proud parents of 8 children and 2 grandchildren.

Please connect with Brett and subscribe to his email list at brettpowell.org

And check out his podcast with Jake Khym “The Way of the Heart”, wherever you find podcasts!

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join Ryan’s email list.

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

What does preaching look like in it’s simplest form?  I’d say if you boil it all down, it’s just two things - a person with a bible, but not just a person reading from the scriptures, but someone with the bible open having dug deep into the words, coming up for air, and sharing what they’ve discovered, uncovering it’s meaning, inspiration, and the application of the divine words to our lives.  This beautiful gift has to flow from a living relationship with God -  the one who gave us the incredible gift of this LIVING WORD in the first place.  

On the podcast this week, I’m sitting down with Rachel Herbeck, who shares her very simple, but powerful approach to preparing for talks.   It’s do-able and convicting, humble and challenging, ordinary and holy.  I can’t wait for you to check it out!

Rachel Herbeck is a lover of Jesus, good food, and finding the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. She currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she serves as the Director of Communities for Intentional Disciples, a young adult outreach of Renewal Ministries. Most importantly, she is the favorite aunt to 10 nieces and nephews!

Please connect with Rachel on Instagram @rherbeck or @intentionaldisciples

And learn more about her work with ID at intentionaldisciples.com or renewalministries.net

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

I’ve given hundreds of talks to college students and by and large I feel like I know what makes them tick. I’m confident, I’m able to be myself and I have a lot to share with them as so much happened and changed in my life during those years. 

But if you just dial back the clock four years on those audiences - from 18-22 yrs/old to 14-18 years old - it’s a whole different story.  It’s a really difficult challenge - especially week in and week out  - speaking to teenagers.  And I think if you can master sharing the truth of the Gospel and of Catholicism with this age range, you can probably talk to just about anybody!!

Well my guest on the podcast, Pat Millea, is a master of this very thing - he is one of the best communicators I know when it comes to combining winsomeness *and* substance in Catholic talks for teenagers. 

If you want to grow as a Catholic communicator with teens - today’s podcast is made just for you. 

Pat Millea is an experienced leader and minister, having worked in parish youth ministry for 15 years. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Sociology & Theology, and went on to receive his Master of Arts in Theology, also from Notre Dame. For two decades, Pat has encouraged and equipped audiences of all sizes and ages. He has spoken at the National Catholic Youth Conference, Catholic HEART Workcamp, and hundreds of diocesan and parish events, and he has contributed content to ministry organizations through curriculum writing & leadership workshops. Pat and his wife Kenna are parents to seven beautiful children and live in West St Paul, MN. 

Check out the website for the Martin Center for Integration and his podcast “This Whole Life”

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a  link to get you started. 

Description

One of the most repeated phrases we’ve heard on this podcast is “Know Your Audience” and while that admonition is really important to keep in mind, is it possible to not just “Know Your Audience”, but to “Know Every Audience?”

My guest today, Chris Hurtubise, thinks so and I think he might be right!

I won’t give it away, because I want you to check out the episode, but I’ll give you a hint - there’s this acronym that’s been floating around in Catholic circles over the last couple of years - RIM. It stands for Relationship Identity and Mission. Right here is where Chris believes and I do too that we can come to know EVERY audience and what makes them tick.

Chris Hurtubise is the Director of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship for the Diocese of Superior in Northern Wisconsin.

His biggest passions are proclaiming the Gospel into every sphere within the Diocese and casting vision for a mission-driven Church.

A native of Chicago, Chris holds a Bachelor’s degree in Classics from Hillsdale College and a Master’s Degree in Theology from the University of Dallas. Chris and his wife Stephanie both converted to Catholicism in 2006. They live on a hobby farm with their four children: John Paul, James, Thomas, and Elizabeth.

To learn more about Chris is doing in the Diocese of Superior, check out their website.

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join Ryan’s email list.

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

You know the verses about love in 1 Corinthians Ch. 13?  It’s the reading that you always hear at weddings.  St. Paul starts by saying, “...if I don’t have love I am a resounding gong and a clanging cymbal.”  1 Cor 13:1b

People speaking to Catholic audiences have a similar bar to hit - do we have love in our heart for the people God allows us to speak to?  And if we don't, how can we gain that love for them? 

In my conversation with Julianne Stanz, a world-class Catechist, she shares how to cultivate that love, but also how that love is evidenced in and through ‘encouragement’, which meant to literally ‘give heart’ to another.  This intentionality is so needed in our day. 

Story-teller, encourager and author, Julianne Stanz is the Director of Discipleship and Parish Life for the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin and is a consultant to the USCCB Committee on Catechesis and Evangelization. She is the author of the books “Braving the Thin Places: Celtic Wisdom to Create a Space for Grace” and “Start with Jesus: How everyday disciples will renew the Church” published by Loyola Press.

Check out Julianne’s website right here: www.juliannestanz.com

And here’s an Amazon link to her latest book, “Braving the Thin Places.”  Check it out!

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started. 

Description

When it comes to giving Catholic talks, where does “humor” fit in?  Is it just a matter of telling jokes you found on the internet or do you have to be a naturally funny person to do it right?   Well, it turns out - it’s not about jokes and you don’t have to be a budding stand up comic to make humor work.  

In my incredible conversation with Michael Hoffman, a 30 year + professional speaker, trainer, and leader we jumped right away into this topic - about humor - and it’s necessary role in communication.  But again - don’t just think “jokes”, ask yourself “what can I do to help people more deeply receive the often hard or uncomfortable  truths I want to share?”  Right there is where the secret lies. 

Michael Hoffman has been igniting and equipping business and faith audiences as a professional keynote speaker and trainer for 30 years.  In everything he does he tries to connect his communication skill sets in service, sales and leadership to having the impact of love in a business world that needs it so desperately. 

Check out Michael’s website: www.ignitingperformance.com

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

Does the name of Jesus roll easily off your tongue? My guess is - if you are a Christian you might say ‘sure’, but take notice over the next week how many times you say the Name of Jesus. There’s power in that name and I don’t think we use it enough. More often when we might say Jesus, we substitute it w “god” , “faith”, or “Church”.    I bring this up because Beth Davis who I speak with today on the podcast brought up the name of Jesus 35 times. I counted.  I think that’s a record for the podcast.  And I am here for it!  

And the reason it came up so much is because she has a really close relationship with him and wants to lead people to him every single time she presents to Catholic audiences.  

There’s no other goal for her when she speaks and for us too, right? 

That’s the uncomfortable challenge today - are we speaking in such a way that squarely aims at this encounter, that helps facilitate through authenticity, docility, and prayer a deep and powerful connection between the speaker, the audience and the irreplaceable presence of Jesus. 

Beth Davis, a lover of Jesus, a retired youth minister, and the Director of Ministry Advancement for Blessed is She. She is passionate about teaching women how to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus and speaking hope to weary hearts. Her favorite things include being an aunt to her fab five niece and nephews, calling everyone ‘friend,’ and whatever book she’s currently reading.

Check out Blessed is She right here: www.blessedisshe.net

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started. 

Description

If you are a parent and you are trying to raise your kids Catholic you have undoubtedly heard one of them say: “Mass is boring.”  “Church is boring.” “The Catholic stuff is lame.” Have you ever heard that? I’m sure you have! I know I have. 

And a lot of times we blame the kids for this take - like they just need to mature and “see the light”, but is it really all their fault?  Or have we the teachers, preachers, and catechists failed to find creative and engaging ways to share the greatest story ever told?  I think that’s a big part of the equation.  The founder of Young Life, Jim Rayburn, an evangelical Protestant ministry to high school kids is quoted as saying:  "We believe it is sinful to bore kids with the gospel. Christ is the strongest, grandest, most attractive personality to ever grace the earth. But a careless messenger with the wrong method can reduce all this magnificence to the level of boredom …. It is a crime to bore anyone with the gospel."

Those are some powerful words to reflect on and while this particular quote didn’t come up in our conversation, my guest today, Edmund Mitchell is doing everything he can to share the truth of Catholicism with passion, joy, and  creativity.   

Edmund is a graduate of Franciscan University where he studied Theology & Catechetics. He’s the co-founder of Real+True, a project of Our Sunday Visitor, which creates videos, podcasts, and social media to unlock the catechism of the Catholic Church for the world. 

Check out Real+True right here: www.realtrue.org

Here’s the video Edmund referenced on the Resurrection, called: Why Catholics Believe in “life everlasting”

Links:

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s alink to get you started.