I can think of no better way to begin my series of Public Speaking Fire Tips than by introducing a speaker who, in his time, set a standard for presentations unapproached by his peers. Several years ago, while living in South London, I discovered the fascinating story of Charles Spurgeon, and, from the heart of his story, both the theme and title for a book emerged.

I feel connected to this Minister for the following reasons:

• Our fathers were both Baptist preachers.

• We both Ministered in London, England.

• We both lived on the same street! (Nightingale Lane, Clapham South)

The dynamic Charles Spurgeon was a minister in the Elephant and Castle district of South London in the latter nineteenth century. While researching this “man of the cloth,” I learned some disturbing statistics describing church attendance. During his lifetime, attendance was at an historical low in churches of all faiths throughout England. The average attendance ranged from between five and seven people per service, per church! The notable exception was the Metropolitan Tabernacle, the largest independent congregation in the world, where Spurgeon had a regular attendance of five to seven thousand every Sunday morning!

What really compelled me to study this man’s public speaking skills was not just this astounding attendance. It was the appeal he made to his congregation on Sunday mornings at the end of his sermons. He would ask those in attendance to not return that evening so that others would have an opportunity to get in, who that morning had been turned away! I’d never heard of a minister having to make that kind of announcement. What made Charles Spurgeon so popular? What about him appealed so powerfully to others? In my research, I uncovered an interview with Spurgeon that provided, with the brilliance of a few searing words, the answers I sought. When asked why so many people were coming to his church when other churches were nearly empty, Spurgeon’s response was:

“I am on fire for Christ. And when I preach, people come to watch me burn.”

First step in overcoming fear is to start with the fire, not the fuel. I don’t want you to be put off by the particulars of our good minister’s flame, nor distracted from the general truth of his message. Spurgeon commanded an intense and authoritative passion in his professional public speaking during the delivery of his sermons, and this filled his church. Likewise, we need that passion in order to burn. If we have intensity in our public speaking jobs, it will show, and it will have that same kind of appeal and attraction.