If you have not read part 1, go HERE first and read it…What are some practical ways we can communicate our humanity as Pastors? Here are four that will immediately boost your humanity:1. Give ‘em a smile. Smiling is the first and easiest way to communicate that you are human. Is costs nothing and there is no rehearsal or study time required. A smile says you are comfortable being in front of people, it radiates confidence, and friendliness. If you don’t smile you are likely to appear cold and standoffish. A sincere smile transcends culture, race, gender, and even language. It is the universally understood sign of friendliness.A trick I use is to say something dumb and funny to someone right before I walk up to preach. The words don’t matter. The goal is to put a smile on MY face before I go up.2. Have story time! Tell stories about growing up, your fears, traveling, family happenings, what happened to you at the IHOP the other day, ANYTHING that gives your audience a sense of who you are. Communicating your humanity is important and to do that you have to share some of your personality. Stories accomplish this quite well. But remember this: a story can become counter-productive if it fails to communicate something significant.I find that pastors have a hard time with this one. Sometimes a pastor will say, “well nothing happens to me.” BALONEY! You just are not looking or remembering. If you must, keep a story catalog. Write down things that happen to you…even if you think you could never possibly use it in a sermon. Edit your stories in the way a writer would. Consider with care where the story is headed. Categorize the experiences you have…was that sad? happy? funny? fascinating?Stories can make or break you as a pastor. Learn to share your personality and communicate your humanity through them.3. Emotions are REAL…USE THEM. You ARE a person and therefore you DO have emotions. Emotions are a great way to communicate your humanity. In acting classes, you are taught to “stay in the moment.” As an actor, you have to experience internally what you want to project externally. For example, if you want to communicate surprised feelings, you have to feel surprised.You need to reveal a part of who you are and the way you do that is by letting the audience glimpse into your emotions. You can also reveal your humanity by sharing things that stir you.When you start to expose the things that make you who you are, you connect with people far better than if you ball it all up inside. At the same time, don’t be the pastor who cries EVERY WEEK. My gosh…4. Maintain eye contact. Think about this. When you have been to a play or performance of some sort and you make eye contact with a performer, you immediately feel drawn into the show more strongly than you were seconds before.As a pastor, this can be tough. This means you have to know your notes well. Here are some basic guidelines for eye contact:

• Try to not utter a word unless you are making eye contact. This is TOUGH.
• Don’t lock on any one person for more than a second.
• If you are using a prop, look at the people while you use it. We talk to people, not props!

Eye contact is a universal thing. In fact, if you don’t give eye contact, people are more likely to feel snubbed by you!If you do these four things, your audience will warm up to you as a human being because you will begin to appear like one! Communicate your humanity and your church will grow. But most importantly, Gods kingdom will grow!Next week we’ll take a look at how to charge our sermons with excitement.