Remember that passage in the Bible about how God doesn’t like lukewarm people, and how he will spit you out of his mouth if you are neither hot nor cold? Well, turns out that passage in Revelation isn’t written to individuals; it’s written to a church. To a group of people. Is it possible for God to remove his Holy Spirit blessing from a church? And what happens if he does? Is that how we end up with dead churches?

Let me flip this around. Why is it that all the great spiritual awakenings start with young people – often on college campuses? Is it not because the age of these young people, and even their spiritual age, is so ripe for revival and so pumped with spiritual adrenaline that they cannot help but “act out” spiritually. Is it not because the passion of these young people cannot and will not be contained by the four walls of the church?

As a Christian Youth Speaker, I get to speak at churches that harness the energy of teens and shoot them off as missionaries into their own everyday mission fields of life, school, and home. It’s a thing of beauty. And that’s the beauty of death – that it only leads to new life. We shouldn’t morn the exit of teens as they walk out of dead churches. We should celebrate the new life that is about to spring forth.

As a Christian Speaker for Youth Events I am constantly reminded of the potential of teens having a positive, godly impact on the world. The only thing with more potential than a youth on fire for God is a group of youth on fire for God. It’s scary.

What my friend didn’t see was the cultural side of the conversation. Today’s teens might have 1970s hairdos and 1980s skinny jeans, but their culture couldn’t be more different. One of the keys to being a Christian Youth Speaker is having a pulse on current youth culture. If you’re a youth pastor, this means finding out what works for your group. Because what works for one group, doesn’t always work for the next.

The key to  planning successful Youth Events – more than anything else – is involving teens in the planning. Ask your students what’s important to them. Ask them to tell you their dream for their school – their mission field. Ask them to dream up an event, let them plan it with you, and let them promote it with you. Bring in a Christian Youth Speaker, and make it a special event. Remember, there are key students in every group who intrinsically define what is cool for the group. They have natural influence. If they’re on the planning committee, your event is already cool. As a youth leader, you don’t bow to the cool kids; you learn to lead in sync with the heartbeat of the local youth culture.

Here’s the cool part: even though youth culture is ever-changing, the spiritual and emotional needs of teens stays the same. Teens still need acceptance, unconditional love, and positive role models in their life. So don’t lead from a distance. Get your hands dirty, and get involved in your student’s lives. Become indigenous to this people group. If you can be patient and really listen to your students, you will be allowed inside the secret youth culture.

Search Google: One of the best ways to find a Youth Speaker for a Christian event is to search online. In seconds, you have a list of the top ranking speakers. The key is narrowing it down, right? So if I’m looking to hire a Christian Youth Speaker for an special event in Michigan, I would search “Michigan Christian Youth Speaker,” and so on. Plus if you go with a local speaker, you will save on travel costs.

Watch Videos: Good Youth Speakers will want you to view their material. This is the only way to really get a feel for what their presentation will be like. So watch the videos on their website or search Youtube for videos of Christian Youth Speakers in your area.

Price Range: If you have Youth Speaker budget of $1,000 to $2,000, you don’t want to find out at the last minute that your preferred Christian Youth Speaker costs $10,000. That’s a deal breaker. So here’s how to find out: most Christian Speakers have a contact form on their website. Fill out the form, and ask them straight out about their fees. They normally have a fee range based on your event needs, size, budget, etc.

Discounts: The fact is, most Christian Speakers give discounts, so ask them about it. Do they give discounts for nonprofits and churches? Are they willing to stay in a host home? Do they have a multiple-presentation rate? Do they have day-rate? What if you partner with another local group and have the speaker come to town for two separate events on the same day – can you split the fee?

Check References: Ask the Christian Youth Speaker to provide some references you can call. Ask the references about their overall experience with the speaker. Would they hire the speaker again? Was the speaker on time and on message? Did they resonate with the audience? What was the audiences’ response?

Call Them: Once you find a few Christian Speakers in your price range, you need to make sure they’re a good fit for you. Even if they’re references check out, you still need to have a personal conversation with them to ask more specific questions and get a feel for their personality. Do a gut check. Is this the right speaker for your event?

Hire Them: The point is: don’t procrastinate. Professional speakers have “busy seasons” where their speaking schedule fills up quickly. Once you’ve found a Christian Youth Speaker who fits your budget, fits your culture, and fits your schedule, hire them and pay the deposit right away to secure the date.

Customize Your Plan: Youth Speakers typically have a range of topics they typically speak on. Do you want to go with a presentation they’ve polished and refined, or do you need them to prepare something fresh. Once you agree on the event’s mission and direction, plan everything around that. The Christian Youth Speaker is typically the climax of the event, so make sure everything leads up to that moment. The old cliché’ is true: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Promote the Event: Here’s where you can get some traction. Ask the Christian Youth Speaker to provide you with free digital assets for promoting the event. Any Youth Speaker worth they’re weight in salt will have professional photos, posters, and a press pack ready to go. You can often get an idea about the quality of the Christian Speaker by the quality of their promotional material. And never neglect the importance of having teens promote the event themselves on facebook.

Host the Christian Speaker: When the event comes, remember that you are the host for the Christian Speaker. Find ways to make their experience smooth and enjoyable (take them out to dinner, give them a tour of your town, provide them with their own backstage room at the event – especially if they have a family). If you give them a great experience, they’re likely to do the same for you.

The bottom line is: hiring the right Christian Youth Speaker who fits with your budget, your schedule, and your ministry culture will make the difference between an average event and an awesome event. And I don’t know about you, but I’d shoot for awesome. Haha!

The truth is that “normal kids” are flying under the radar and struggling with unseen, but very serious issues. The majority of students listening to a youth speaker are battling issues like identity, body image, acceptance, stress, parental expectations, and pressure to perform. Don’t get me wrong: talking with students about sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll is a huge thing, but it’s not the only thing. The point is that the unseen struggles of teens are actually the root problems that can lead to greater destruction down the road. If Youth Speakers are going to help create lasting change, they have to abandon the van down by the river and start focusing on the heart and soul issues that average teenagers face. The problems lurking beneath the surface are harder to see, but they are the greatest opportunity for success with youth.

The strange thing is that these moments are funny to you. You spend more time laughing about them than pining for your freewheeling days of yesteryear. This is the new normal to you, and you cherish the life you’ve been given. Every ounce of sacrifice is worth a pound of joy.

Sadly, these sacrifices scare some people away from ever becoming parents. They see the sacrifices, and they are too shortsighted to believe it’s worth it. These folks typically live in the land of Once. About half of them live in Southern Once, and the other half live in Northern Once. The southerners say things like, “Once, when I was captain of the high school football team, I led us to a state championship!” The northerners, on the other hand, have a totally different accent. Their’s is more like, “Once I get that new job, things will be so much better!” And if you hang with either crowd for too long, you start to believe that your best days are either way behind you or way ahead of you.

I remember when I was about twelve I wanted nothing more in the world than to be a teenager. From what I heard, this would be the best time in my life. My Dad and I were working in our Christmas tree field one afternoon, and we paused to take a breather. I was daydreaming about becoming a teen and driving and having a girlfriend and all of that, when I asked my Dad what was the greatest time in his life. I was thinking that he would say when he was sixteen, or perhaps when he was eighteen. I was really just looking for confirmation that the teen years were the best. So I asked him straight out. He paused for a second, leaned into his shovel, and said with certainty, “…Probably right now.”

The way he said it was so riveting, so resolute, that I knew he meant it. If you could have heard his voice, there was no “probably” about it. And in those few words, my Dad imparted a worldview that sticks with me to this day. I remember these words when the weight of the world is pulling me to the south or to the north. And it’s in these moments that I stop. I breathe. And I whisper to myself, “…Probably right now.”

Tip #1 – Involve:  We once planned a Christian Youth Speaker Event called Mudfest, but before we did anything we held an overnight campout for teens and adult leaders who wanted to help dream and plan for the event. The result was total buy-in, great participation, and ultimately, excellent attendance. You will not get students to buy-in to a Christian Youth Event if they are not involved from the get go. As leadership guru Steven Covey says, “There is no commitment without involvement.” So get your students and leaders involved early!

Tip #2 – Plan:  You need to be planning the logistics about six-months to a year before the event (dates, locations, timelines, and schedules). Plan ahead and you will secure the best location on the best date for the best price. If you procrastinate, you’ll end up hosting your Christian Youth Speaker Event in the church parking lot, and nobody wants that. Set deadlines for students to pay and submit their permission slips (and create incentives for turning them in on time). Beyond that, you need to plan a theme to focus the event. Ask God to reveal the needs of your youth ministry. What are the intended outcomes of the event? Now keep planning with that goal as the driver.

Tip #3 – Program:  There’s nothing that adds more momentum to a youth event than bringing in a Christian Youth Speaker (and if you can afford it, a Christian Rock Band). If you want to move the hearts of teens, surround them with familiar faces in a new place with a good Christian Youth Speaker. The pump will be primed. God does great things at Christian camps and special events, so make sure the youth event is programmed for success.

Tip #4 – Budget:  For years we had been hosting our fall retreat at a Christian camp for about $85 per student, but as the economy dipped, so did our attendance. So we found a local YMCA camp that had all the amenities for $65 per student. $20 makes a huge difference in who can afford to go. But we still needed some extra funds to afford a Christian Youth Speaker and a Worship Band. That’s where fundraising comes in, the next tip.

Tip #5 – Fundraise:  Never neglect the importance of the individual conversation with a potential donor. Take your plan to several key individuals who are fans of the youth ministry. Present it to them from a ministry perspective and focus on your intended outcomes for the students. Before you leave, show how much money is still needed to pull off the youth event  (seriously, show it on paper if you can), and ask the donor to consider giving toward the cause. Don’t give a sales pitch. Instead look for partners in your ministry. Next, the local community needs to see teens fundraising for the event. In my experience, when the teens present a real service to the community, the money will start rolling in. Some of our best fundraisers were simply offering a crew of teens for service. We cleaned yards, stacked wood, power-washed decks, and ultimately funded our Christian Youth Speaker Event.

Tip #6 – Delegate:  Be honest with yourself. What are you not good at? This is often some of the same things you dread doing. For me, it was planning meals for youth events. When I asked for help, I not only recruited several new leaders, I also relieved the stress I was having in fretting over the great unknown. Maybe for you it’s the audio-visual technology or the worship music. If you want people to be on your team, give them serious responsibility. Then sit back and have the patience to let them fail forward until they get it. Micromanaging your Christian Youth Event will get you nowhere fast.

Tip #7 – Market:  By three-months out, you need to be publicizing and marketing the event. Hire (or delegate) a graphic designer for the event. Make print assets that can be passed out at school. Make digital assets that can be forwarded or “liked” online. Assign a crew of student leaders to do your social media marketing. If your Christian Youth Speaker Event is not being marketed on facebook, you can count on it failing.

Tip #8 – Produce:  By one-month out, you need to be dotting every I and crossing every T. Double check the location, Christian Youth Speaker, and Christian Rock Band are ready to go, and make sure all deposits are paid. By two-weeks out, make sure the permission slips are turned in. One week before the event issue last minute reminders to the students, such as where to be, when to be there, and what to pack (you already gave them this information, but they forgot).

Tip #9 – Execute:  The youth event is finally here! You made your plan, you worked your plan, and now your plan is working for you. But stay wise: bring some contingency plans (alternate locations for bad weather, money for flat tires, first aid kits for scrapes, etc.). And when you arrive at the Christian Youth Event, take a moment to quiet your mind so you can be fully present with God and fully present with your teens. Then execute the event, and watch God move.

Tip #10 – Debrief:  When the event is over, plan on following up with several debriefing sessions. Too many students return home from a Christian Youth Event and slide back into their normal routine. So host a testimony event and give students a public opportunity to share what they learned. Prepare small group discussion questions, so they can vocalize what God placed on their hearts. Turn their words into commitments, turn their commitments into action, and turn their action into character.

Through effective planning, you can host a Christian Youth Speaker Event that serves as the catalyst for change in the lives of your students. So get planning!

So the room is quiet and awkward, and now it’s more awkward as people start giving their mini-speeches. Just remember that no one will remember what you’re about to say – because they’re too busy thinking about what they’re going to say when it’s their turn, and then they’re analyzing what they just said when their turn is over. This isn’t really a good or bad thing. It’s just how the game works.

You will notice that most people start out by taking their turn in as little time as possible. They just want to get the spotlight off them. This is like my wife; she doesn’t like it when a group of people stares at her. And most people are this way. But the thing is, what the group really needs is for someone to stand up and pop the balloon, letting all the hot air and tension out of the room. Everyone is drowning in awkwardness until you do it, so you take it upon yourself to serve the group in this way.

It will be best to sit about halfway around the circle, right across from the group leader, so that your turn comes in the middle, when the tension is at its highest. You don’t want or need the attention – you just want to help the group by, well… by breaking the ice of the ice breaker.

Here are my Top 5 Ways to “Break the Ice” of the Ice Breaker:

1. Say, “I’m Thom Thelen, and I do Imagination Magic. I tell people to close their eyes and imagine that I have a piece of rope. Then imagine me cutting the rope in two. Now imagine that I just put the rope back together into one solid piece. Viola! Open your eyes!… Imagination Magic!” (You don’t actually have the group close their eyes; you just describe to them how you do your Imagination Magic. This is key.)

2. Introduce yourself as the person sitting next to you – the person who is about to introduce themselves right after you’re done. Then act embarrassed, like you didn’t mean to say that. This only works if you already know the person sitting next to you.

3. Say, “I’m Thom Thelen, and one thing I’m good at is paint stirring. If someone has a can of paint that needs stirring, I’m all over it. I’ve been doing this since I was a small child, and I have become highly skilled in this regard.”

4. Say, “I’m Thom Thelen, and one thing people don’t know about me is that I have only four toes on my left foot … Motorcycle accident. It’s really hard for me to talk about.” If people ask to see the foot, just run out of the room screaming like you’re having a flashback.

5. Don’t say anything at all. Instead, just shoot small fireworks out of your hat. (Note: you will need a hat that shoots small fireworks.)

The point is, it’s not good for a group of people to sit silently in a room feeling shy, anxious, and embarrassed. We need someone to say, “I’m not willing to let that happen. Not on my watch.” Then we need that person to make us laugh – even at their expense. We need people who are willing help the leader achieve her goals. The leader really just wants the group members to know that they’re in a safe place and that everything is going to be fine. And the group members want to be assured of the same thing. So even while the group is laughing at you, you should understand that we’re all silently grateful for your act of self-sacrifice.

The truth is, you’re actually hoping that some other brave soul will do this before you have to. Because you know that if the room is still full of hot air when the spotlight finally gets to you, you will be the one to pop the balloon. This is your calling. You’re an ice breaker baby.

Misconception 1 – Youth Speakers Have to be Loud and Proud.

Misconception 2 – Youth Speakers Will Change Students’ Lives.
It is true that hearing a youth speaker can be a life-changing experience, but the real change happens after the youth speaker leaves. Individuals hold the power to choose – and this is the key to character development. Youth speakers alone cannot change students’ lives; it ultimately depends on the choices the students make day after day.

Misconception 3 – The Youth Speaker’s First Job is to Motivate Teens.
Youth Speakers tell motivational stories, and they get audiences worked up, but their number one job is to teach the right things – the best things. Most youth speakers instruct students to believe in themselves and to be all they can be. This is a good message, but is it the best message? Is it even a complete message? What are some of the unintended side effects of simply believing in yourself? That of course, is a topic for another blog.

Misconception 4 – Youth Speakers Are Overrated.
Well, this one has some truth in it. Some youth speakers are celebrity types who are perhaps, a bit overrated. But the importance of hiring good youth speakers still remains. The fact is that the best youth speakers are able to connect with students at the deepest level. When students make a real life commitment, one that is motivated by a professional youth speaker, the results are amazing.

Misconception 5 – Youth Speakers Just Need a Microphone.
I’m not talking about the audio-visual equipment needed for a youth speaker – that’s not my point. Sometimes adults forget that Youth Speakers need local adults and boots on the ground to mentor students and to follow up with them in the aftermath of a Youth Speaker event. We can’t leave teens hanging! With planned follow up activities and debriefings students have the opportunity to vocalize the internal commitments they made. And when it’s spoken aloud, it becomes a commitment.

Please pray for our ministry, as we’re gearing up to bring the message of hope to a new generation of youth and young adults. Let’s make it happen!

- Thom