This is a hot topic with me personally. If you’re a frequent public speaker, like I am, then you’ve possibly made this mistake. See! There I go, assuming already!!!
I learned a long time ago, and am frequently reminded, that when I’m speaking and I assume something, I immediately lose a portion of my audience. In the church world, whether you’re teaching a Sunday School class, speaking to adults, or leading a personal Bible study, we can never make the mistake of assuming that our audience knows what we’re talking about.
Just recently, I started to share the epic story of Noah and the Ark. Even though most of the audience was probably aware of this story, I still took a few extra moments to briefly explain the significant details and the key players. Then something shocking happened. I actually asked a question about this legendary story, to a room of about 30 students, and all I got back in return was blank stares!
The point is, we MUST avoid communicating based on assumptions! Avoid rushing past the details (of what could be an incredible teaching point), by saying something like “We all know the story of…”, actually we may not all know the story! In fact, it could potentially make some in our audience feel rather dumb just because they don’t know this story…that apparently everyone else knows!
I almost didn’t submit this post today, because I figured it was pretty elementary and everyone would already know……….see there I go again. Let’s get it right folks! Repeat after me: “No More Assumptions!”