Sermon Central
-
Alliterated Outlines Are Almost Always Atrocious--Do You Agree?
By Lane Sebring on Sep 26, 2014
Some preachers love them; others would never use them. Are they helpful or not?
Some preachers alliterate their outlines, making all their points begin with the same letter. Sometimes just the main points are alliterated; other times the sub-points are alliterated, and still other times the sub-sub-points are alliterated. At one point it was taught as a great way to organize your message and really get your listeners to remember. "To make it stick, alliterate!" was the mantra. But we don’t see as much alliteration anymore. But does it make a difference? Alliterate or not, does it matter?
Here’s why alliterated outlines are almost always absolutely atrocious:
1. They make your message seem contrived. Alliterated outlines can appear forced, as if the preacher just needed a matching, neat outline, so he grabbed whatever word fit the others, regardless of whether it was actually the best word that communicated the meaning he wanted. Like this:
God wants three things from you:
a. Surrender
b. Service
c. Supplication (Seriously? “Prayer” would work just fine here, and more people would know automatically what it means.)
2. Some alliterations can seem crowded and overly complicated. I’ve read pulpit commentaries that teach pastors how to alliterate several words in a line and make each subsequent line a parallel matching line. Here’s an example from a sermon I heard once:
A genuine disciple is:
a. Committed to a pure life.
b. Consistent in their personal life.
c. Constrained by the purpose of life.
d. Convinced of their position in life.
In addition to seeming painfully contrived, this is a complicated mess to navigate through. If we can learn anything from companies like Google, simplicity rules the day. A wordy, crowded, alliterated outline makes it difficult to navigate what is most important for your listeners to remember.
3. They do not communicate authenticity. This is because it doesn’t seem like a real conversation. We don’t speak to each other in neat, alliterated sentences. As a preacher delivering a sermon, you have to work hard to seem connected to your audience. Don’t make this harder on yourself by developing an outline that doesn’t seem real.
Every rule has an exception. Alliteration is not technically the problem. Overuse of alliteration and forced alliteration is the problem. Sometimes it can be very helpful. Other times it is a huge distraction. For me, what makes the difference is whether memorizing it will help your audience when they walk away. If memorizing the outline is not something that would help them, there is no need to alliterate.
If you were preaching on three ways God wants us to love him, your outline could be "Head, Heart and Hands": “God wants us to love him with our minds (head), he wants our full emotions (heart), and he wants us to serve him (hands).” It’s simple and could be very useful to your listeners.
But this can be overused, too. And, if done too much or in a forced way, it can also be a distraction. So I am careful not to use something like that too much.
Do you alliterate? Why? Why not? What have you found to helpful when organizing an outline?
Related Preaching Articles
-
Keeping Your Preaching Fresh
By Lance Witt on Sep 9, 2017
“Everything worthwhile is uphill. Everything that is valuable, you have to work for. No one ever coasted their way to success. Most people have uphill hopes but have downhill habits.”
-
Dave Stone’s 8 Principles To Great Preaching
By Brandon Kelley on Sep 6, 2017
Dave Stone’s 8 Principles to Great Preaching
-
Do This And Improve Your Preaching This Sunday
By Peter Walters on Aug 2, 2017
We have a new family in our church with no church background at all. When I prepare to preach I think of them and go the extra mile to make my message as understandable and relatable as possible.
-
Using An Ipad Pro For Ministry
By Joe Hoagland on Aug 2, 2017
See, a Chromebook or even a laptop or desktop only helps you with the content creation side of ministry: preparing sermons, writing lessons, writing blog posts etc. Whereas an iPad Pro can do both sides: content creation as well as presentation.
-
The 10 Commandments Of An Effective Sermon Introduction
By Brandon Kelley on Jul 31, 2017
If you haven’t grasped this yet, your sermon introduction is vitally important. But what does it look like to knock the introduction out of the park? What are some things to avoid? What are some things to ensure are a part of it? Let’s dive into the 10 commandments of an effective sermon introduction!
-
3 Essentials For Pastoral Preaching
By Rich Villodas on Jul 25, 2017
I think I’m starting to learn to preach not as a preacher but to preach as a pastor. There’s a world of difference between the two.
-
3 Reasons Good Preaching Is As Important As Ever
By Joe Hoagland on Jul 25, 2017
People love to tell you that preaching is irrelevant in this day and age. But contrary to this kind of thinking, good preaching does remain important. In fact, preaching remains as important as it has ever been.
-
Preaching God’s Word Is Timeless (Find The Timeless Truth)
By Joe Hoagland on Jul 24, 2017
The Bible is wholly relevant to the modern person’s life sometimes it just takes some work for us to figure that out. The idea of making a “timeless truth” central to your sermon is important in communicating God’s Word in a postmodern age.
