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Writing Sermons in an Oral Style
Garth Pauley
Calvin Symposium on Worship 2006

The rhetorician James A. Winans once wrote, "A speech is not merely an essay standing on its hind legs." Yet many speakers—including preachers—write their messages in a style better suited for reading rather than hearing. To be an effective oral communicator, one must learn to write for the ear, not the eye.

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Presenter Bio

Garth Pauley is professor of communication arts and sciences at Calvin College. In 2003 he won the Karl R. Wallace Memorial Award for his work on Civil Rights rhetoric.