Know Your Audience

I am preparing to speak to some business people in West Africa next month and reflecting on the blessings that I have had in leading conferences in 80+ countries over the years. These privileges have had much more to do with God’s grace and me being in the right place at the right time than with my intelligence or experience.

For sure I have had some challenging locations, topics, and audiences. Through the years family, friends,  and colleagues have enjoyed stories about some of the more exotic audiences and places where I have led conferences. Here are a few examples: teaching young leaders at a military camp just outside Khartoum; teaching North Koreans who had escaped their country to learn more about Jesus so they could sneak back into their country to tell others; teaching the principles of servant leadership to the staff of a wild game preserve in Zimbabwe; leading sessions for young adults on the Isle of Man; teaching how to lead teams to business executives at the World Trade Center in Bogota; and teaching community transformation to young adult leaders in Stellenbosch, South Africa.  

I have been blessed to work with some amazing people who have taught me so much. Three mentors who have all now gone to heaven were so influential in my life as each of them spoke into my life for more than forty years. Some of the teams that I have been privileged to lead have been called “the dream team,” not because of me, but because of the phenomenal talents of those with whom I worked. Having people on a team that I led who were smarter than me never bothered me. I love working with team members who challenge me to grow, and I love it when they contest something that I have said or an action that I have undertaken.

The Lord began early in my life preparing me for my career. Some adult leaders in my church when I was 11 years old helped me get over my fear of getting up in front of people. Singing in a touring college choir strengthened my abilities to perform in front of an audience. Leading music at Central Baptist Church in Little Yazoo, Mississippi while in college built my confidence to do something that I was not fully trained to do. Falling in love with Cheryl during college was the biggest boost to my self-confidence as she was not only my biggest critic when I spoke or sang, but she was also my biggest fan.

Early in my career, I was invited to speak for the 1979 Royal Ambassador Congress in the coliseum at Mississippi College. I was confident in my own abilities and I knew that I could handle the audience who would be attending the meeting, so I did not ask if anyone else was going to be on program.

As I walked into the coliseum, I was overwhelmed by the number of little BOYS, yes, kids mostly in the 6–11-year-old range. As the boys filed into the coliseum, I realized how rambunctious they were and how difficult it was going to be to get and keep their attention.  As I sat down, I was squirming like the little boys. Someone came to greet me and give me a program. A quick look over the program, and I immediately started sweating—you know the kind of nervous sweat you get when you are about to do something that you are not sure you are going to survive.

Preceding me as speakers were John Stroud, an all-SEC basketball player at Ole Miss and Bunny Martin, the Yo-Yo champion of the world. It was at that moment that I bowed my head and prayed—not for John and Bunny, but for me.

The realization that I did not really know my audience, and I was not well prepared hit me like a ton of bricks. So, I prayed. In that short prayer as I mostly listened to God speaking to my heart. He did a number on me in those 3 minutes. Guilt swept over my mind and heart like soft butter over warm bread. I did not spend enough time preparing to address these boys. I had prepared to use one of my standard missionary talks, but the Lord compelled me to leave my notes in my chair and just speak from my heart.

The boys sat on the edge of their seats when John Stroud was talking about playing collegiate basketball, and then they were spellbound when Bunny Martin started talking and doing yo-yo tricks at the same time. When I got up to speak, the boys settled back into their seats to see what this old missionary was going to say. I started sharing stories about living in West Africa, and surprisingly, I kept telling stories until my time was up. Once I forgot about who spoke before me and concentrated on doing what only I was able to do, I loved the experience.

The Lord taught me a lot about communicating to audiences on that day. One lesson I learned was to know my audience and to make special preparations for that audience. Though the years I may have spoken on the same topic, but I have adapted that topic dozens of times to fit the audience.

I learned that the best way to capture hearts is to tell stories. People don’t remember much of what you have to say not matter how good you think you are, but they can latch onto stories especially when they are about something that you have experienced.

Finally, a huge lesson learned was to be authentic. Be who God created you to be. One day I will stand before God, and He will ask, “Larry, why were you not more like Larry instead of trying to be like someone else?”