SCORRE method
Ken Davis’ SCORRE Method
(designed for preparing Bible messages/sermons)
“The single most important factor in communication is focus. You must know what the objective of your talk will be, and you must be clear about how you are going to achieve that objective… If you can’t state the purpose of your talk in a single clear sentence, you are either trying to say too much or you don’t know what you are talking about… If you know your objective so clearly that you can write it in a simple sentence, you can strategically plan a talk so that your audience gets the message loud and clear.” (How to Speak to Youth, pages 41, 42, 44)
Subject
- helps bring focus to what you are going to speak about
- determine the subject of the talk, making sure it fits needs of audience
- know the subject matter / research
- broadly express subject in one or two words
Central Theme
- helps establish purpose and focus of talk and what you want to accomplish
- take broad topic and narrow it down to a specific aspect about that topic
- narrow subject down – choose single aspect of subject and briefly, simply, and clearly express central theme as a phrase
- central theme = “broad description of the content”; hints at talk’s objective; focus of talk
Objective
- clarify your purpose – what you want to accomplish in speech
- Process
1. Write a propositional statement – summarize purpose of talk with a clear, simple sentence: “Every __________ can / should __________.” (instruction/enabling or persuasion/obligation) (Proposition)
2. Question the proposition – Instruct >> How?; Persuade >> Why?
3. Answer the question “How”/”Why” with a phrase that uses a key word –
Instruct >> “by”; Persuade >> “because of / for”; “Every _______ can / should _______ by / because of/for (key word) _______.”; key word = plural noun that defines your point (the hook on which your content hangs), bringing focus and rationale to speech – e.g. guidelines, consequences, blessings, rules,
(designed for preparing Bible messages/sermons)
“The single most important factor in communication is focus. You must know what the objective of your talk will be, and you must be clear about how you are going to achieve that objective… If you can’t state the purpose of your talk in a single clear sentence, you are either trying to say too much or you don’t know what you are talking about… If you know your objective so clearly that you can write it in a simple sentence, you can strategically plan a talk so that your audience gets the message loud and clear.” (How to Speak to Youth, pages 41, 42, 44)
Subject
- helps bring focus to what you are going to speak about
- determine the subject of the talk, making sure it fits needs of audience
- know the subject matter / research
- broadly express subject in one or two words
Central Theme
- helps establish purpose and focus of talk and what you want to accomplish
- take broad topic and narrow it down to a specific aspect about that topic
- narrow subject down – choose single aspect of subject and briefly, simply, and clearly express central theme as a phrase
- central theme = “broad description of the content”; hints at talk’s objective; focus of talk
Objective
- clarify your purpose – what you want to accomplish in speech
- Process
1. Write a propositional statement – summarize purpose of talk with a clear, simple sentence: “Every __________ can / should __________.” (instruction/enabling or persuasion/obligation) (Proposition)
2. Question the proposition – Instruct >> How?; Persuade >> Why?
3. Answer the question “How”/”Why” with a phrase that uses a key word –
Instruct >> “by”; Persuade >> “because of / for”; “Every _______ can / should _______ by / because of/for (key word) _______.”; key word = plural noun that defines your point (the hook on which your content hangs), bringing focus and rationale to speech – e.g. guidelines, consequences, blessings, rules,