Home Pastors Articles for Pastors 5 “Zipper Down” Mistakes Inexperienced Speakers Make

5 “Zipper Down” Mistakes Inexperienced Speakers Make

One Sunday as I was preaching at the little country church I pastored, I noticed my wife was paying close attention to the sermon.

She is always encouraging when I preach, but this week she seemed to hang on every word. She waved her hand several times and nodded vigorously when I looked her direction.

I knew I was good, but I was obviously hitting it out of the park today. I couldn’t wait to get her feedback after services.

She pulled me aside when service was over and whispered, “I was trying to get your attention. Your zipper is down. It’s been down all morning!”

It seems the combination of my zipper failure and my habit of putting my hands in my pockets when I preach gave the congregation much more than they bargained for that morning.

What I thought was rhetorical genius was actually congregational embarrassment.

We’ve all had those “zipper down” moments when speaking; we think we’re leading the crowd to higher ground when in reality they got off the bus some time during our second point.

Here are five “zipper down” mistakes inexperienced speakers make regularly:

1. Overestimate how much the crowd likes us.

Every time I speak, I know part of the audience is thinking, “Who is this guy and why should I listen to him?” and part of the audience is thinking, “Oh no, not him again!”

It is important, especially when speaking to a new audience or an audience you’re not in front of often, to give them a reason to listen. 

  • Are you funny?
  • Have you gone through something similar to what they are going through?
  • Are you an expert on the topic?
  • Do you love kittens?

Unless you’re Francis Chan or Perry Noble, you need to give your audience a reason to pay attention.