Description

This has come up over and over again. You know, talking with people who experience a call and a desire to do more speaking in Catholic settings, either because it's part of their job in ministry with young people or their directors of faith formation, or their priests or deacons or whatever it might be.

But there's also this idea that what if additionally there may be other talks that I might be able to give in particular settings locally, nationally, regionally, again, whatever that might be. And how do I get started? This comes up all of the time. And in fact, it's something that we talk about quite a bit here on the podcast.

And so today I want to share some wisdom that I've learned along the way. This has been a 20 to 25 year journey for me. And just now, let's say like. After 25 years or so, I finally gone pro, like this is my job, podcasting, speaking, all that stuff. And, and so I have a little bit of experience to share about that.

I'd love to talk about my own experience, but I'm also really trying to bring the wisdom that I've encountered from the podcast around this question.

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

With every new generation, evangelists, preachers and teachers MUST ADAPT if we hope that this new generation will HEAR THE GOOD NEWS and wholeheartedly RESPOND to it’s promises. This week I sit down with someone who is serving, teaching, and preaching on the front lines at one of reaching Gen-Z.

Dr. Andrew Swafford is professor of theology at Benedictine College, where he teaches courses on Scripture, St. John Paul II, and the moral and spiritual life. Among his publications are his most recent, Gift and Grit: How Heroic Virtue Can Change Your Life and Relationships, AND A Catholic Guide to the Old Testament, What We Believe: The Beauty of the Catholic Faith, and Spiritual Survival in the Modern World: Insights from C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. He is an avid student of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and lives with his wife Sarah and their six children in Atchison, KS.

+ Check out Dr. Swafford's Website

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.

Description

This week’s episode is a dream come true. From the first time I pressed record on the podcast till now, I have hoped to support everyday people working in the Church with giving talks - YMs, DREs, Deacons, Campus Ministers, etc.. And it’s happened! Today is proof positive. Not long after I started this Podcast, my guest today Nick Longo reached out to share his appreciation for the show and the growth in giving Catholic talks that he was seeing in his ministry.

And a few months back he said “I’d love to come on the show and talk about the impact it’s had on me!” And I was like - “heck yeah, let’s do it.” It was a fantastic conversation - in large part because of how honest and real Nick was about his growth as a speaker and digging in to what was really holding him back. I bet you’ll relate.

Born and raised in Central New York, Nick is a proud husband and father of three. By day, he is a director of evangelization and youth ministry in the Diocese of Syracuse, NY, and by night he is a Catholic speaker, podcaster, and writer. Listen to Nick’s podcast, This Catholic Life and follow on social @nickjameslongo.

He and his wife are also the founders of “Sent Parish”, a Catholic non-profit aimed at equipping Catholic leaders to make disciples. In fact, if you want to download his free e-book “Overcoming the Seven Deadly Sins of Parish Evangelization”, a link will be included in the show notes.

Social Handle: @nickjameslongo

Sent Parish Website: sentparish.com

Download the FREE E-Book: “Overcoming the Seven Deadly Sins of Parish Evangelization”

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.

Description

Today is a special episode, because in the last year, about 12 months to be exact I took the biggest leap of faith of my life. It all came to pass at a four-day silent retreat last summer where Jesus invited me to “feed his sheep”, to leave SPO and the comfort of a steady paycheck, and GO full-time, preaching and teaching. Here were the words that I believe Jesus spoke to me that put the final nail in the coffin, of my discernment. “If you love me and for only as long as you love me, and only because you love me, feed my sheep and tend my lambs.”

Of course this was an invitation to two things, first primarily, was to be in close intimate relationship with JESUS, and then (and only then) would I be able to ‘feed and tend’; to speak, teach, and preach. But it wasn’t just a call “preach and teach” from a microphone, it was a call to care deeply for people in poverty, to literally feed the hungry, and tend to their very practical needs.

So today, I talk again with my good friend Connor all about it. Please note: We recorded this episode last December so if any of the time references seem off - that’s why!

Connect with Ryan’s Speaking page here - ryanohara.org/catholictalks

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

Barbara Heil is a former Protestant Pastor and Minister who is celebrating her 10th year in the Roman Catholic Church. Barbara speaks nationally and around the world, sharing her passion for the Gospel, and inviting others to encounter God in a deeper way.

God wants to speak HIS MESSAGE through you. Has that sunk in?? That this isn’t my message, your message, but God’s message. We go DEEP into this IDEA today on the podcast…WHY we must focus on God’s word and what God wants to say and how to cultivate this conviction and practice in everyday life - for the sake of the people God will lead you to speak to.

And before we start, be sure to stop by and say hi on Instagram at @betterpreach. I’d love to connect!

Connect with Barbara at her website and through Encounter Ministries.

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.

Description

Fr. Alex Colautti is the vocations director for the Companions of the Cross, a religious community of charismatic Catholic priests. He is a co-author of Preaching on Purpose: A Divine Renovation Handbook for Communicating the Gospel Today. Fr Alex lives to see people come into a life-transforming encounter with Jesus in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

And today we…dig into his book and two BIG IDEAS around HOMILIES…

- One church, one message

- Preaching as a Team

And before we start, be sure to stop by and say hi on Instagram at @betterpreach. I’d love to connect!

Connect with Fr. Alex at Companions of the Cross website, on Instagram @fralexcc and Divine Renovation website

Links

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach Podcast is now on YouTube. Here’s a link to the channel.

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites.

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

Join the Better Preach email list.

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

I’ll be back w in a few weeks time, BUT in the meantime I wanted to share, for the next couple of weeks, some of my favorite interviews from early in Season 1.   Last week I re-shared my interview with Sarah Kaczmarek, today I want to share my convo w Dan DeMatte - one of the founders of Damascus and it’s Executive Director of Missions and Advancement.  

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If you are speaking to Catholic audiences you don’t want to just to pass on correct information, you want to make a deep impact.  But how exactly do you do that?   And are you willing to stay humble and attentive enough to hear the Holy Spirit, over months, maybe even years to allow a specific message - for the Church - to emerge in your life? 

Well, this was the transformational idea that I talked with Dan DeMatte about today.  From his very first talk to his fellow 8th graders to co-founding one of the fastest growing youth and young adult ministry movements in the country, Damascus, he has been a steward of powerful messages for thousands each year. 

He is the author of Catholic bestseller, Holiness Revolution, with the Dynamic Catholic Institute. And recently released a new book called Dream Bigger! He is the co-host of Beyond Damascus, a podcast and radio program carried across the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network And he lives in Ohio with his wife, Amber, and their four children.

Link to Theme Song for the first retreat he lead as an 8th grader, Michael W. Smith’s “My Place in this World.”

Here’s the link to the talk called “Dream Bigger” that we discussed: Dream Bigger by Dan DeMatte

A link to Damascus Ministry

Links:

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.

Description

This is a bonus replay of my original conversation, back in Summer of 2022, with Sarah Kaczmarek. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with new episodes for Season 3. In the meantime, enjoy this powerful conversation with one of the best in the business!

1. How crucial is it that the message you are sharing into a microphone matches up with who you are without a microphone? 

2. What are the challenges and superpowers for Catholic speakers who are introverts? 

3. Is it possible to redeem procrastination once and for all? 

In my conversation with Sarah Kaczmarek, we cover each of these questions and more!

Sarah has served in ministry for the last 18 years and strongly desires to see all of God’s children walk in wholeness and holiness.  She is currently the Director of Pastoral Ministry at Encounter Ministries. 

Sarah holds an MA in Counseling and is currently completing a certificate in Spiritual Direction. She loves teaching and speaking about the heart of the Father, the wholeness He desires for us, and the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives.

Here’s the link to her “Power and Purpose Talk” at Franciscan University of Steubenville. 

Click here to get Sarah’s Speaking Notes for the “Power and Purpose Talk” above. 

Links:

For more information about the Better Preach Podcast visit: www.ryanohara.org/betterpreach

Better Preach is a proud member of Spoke Street, a Catholic Podcast Network that amplifies the voice of the Creator through fostering content that invites. 

Check out Ryan’s FREE course on “sharing your faith as a Catholic.”

Follow Ryan on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook 

Join Ryan’s email list.  

I made this podcast with help from Riverside FM. Want to try it out for your podcast? Here’s a link to get you started.