Spiritual leaders can make a big impact on others. There are several techniques that encourage individuals to listen to a spiritual leader. As host of my own radio talk show, Cosmopolitan People, in Baltimore, Maryland at WCBM talk radio 680 AM, I sometimes dialogue with other spiritual teachers, honing a huge spectrum of talent. Those who practice success oriented teachings have emotionally reached my radio listening audience.

A spiritual teacher who has learned to properly speak to the public will be a successful radio guest while a successful spiritual teacher who does not like public speaking will often fall short of her expectations. The first and biggest mistake a spiritual teacher might makes during an interview is one of complacency.

The spiritual teacher sometimes believes her only job is to act and feel spiritual circumstances. She might fail to realize that learning of real-world techniques such as public speaking methods lead her closer to her clients. Another mistake a spiritual teacher might make is thinking the radio interviewer, the listeners or the individual facilitating a workshop is responsible for the success of the interview or engagement.

While this is true in the world of talk radio in the event that the host desires to create a certain outcome for her show, relying upon the host to do a good job at selling a spiritual method or thought system is not the best way to relay worthwhile spiritual conversation. The host can and usually will try to ask questions that lead the teacher into conversation and creative antidote, however it is the job of the teacher to intrigue her audience and help them find motivation toward spiritual change.

Knowing the general audience a spiritual method will reach is the first step toward a successful interaction with others. The easiest interview I have ever experience is one with motivational speaker, Dr. Bernie Siegel and Susun Weed, who both practically read my mind and foresaw the questions I was preparing to ask. As I always ask questions that my audience wants to know, I predictably ask questions of a speaker that his audience will need to know.

And because asking a spiritual teacher to read minds is not a task I request, I do hope that an instructor knows his general audience and the type of questions that audience would most like to ask. When both guest and host know their audience the “mind reading” trick seems to come alive. Both the host and the guest seem to be friendly and present to the audience a camaraderie that the listener enjoys. As the listeners settle in, to listen to the interview, they feel the emotion that exists between guest and host and they relax and listen.

Now it is time to stimulate the curiosities of the audience. The teacher/leader must know how to effectively present his own information. A good story always grabs the attention and keeps the attention of any listener. While spiritual teachers want to promote their particular belief and life method by giving the audience fundamental information, this information is not effective until the teacher has thoroughly caught the attention of the listener.

I have conducted many interviews where the guests wants to over spend his time selling his fundamental belief system and presenting contact information. I believe the listener simply turns the channel at this time. A firm engagement between the host, guest and audience must first be obtained before the listener becomes ready to trust and believe the opinions of the speaker. A speaker who understands that he must help his listeners to relate to the information from a visual, emotional and listener-relevant perspective will find that he quickly develops a following thus quickly helps the lives of others.

Reaching a listener from a visual perspective encourages the listener to feel a personal connection with the material being presented. Listeners want to see in their mind’s eye the people and places of the instructor. A personal relationship begins when the teacher uses sight words such as color and texture words as well as actual descriptions of places and events. Once the listener sees the teacher’s images in his mind, he is hooked into the story and waiting to hear/see more.

Next, the spiritual teacher must use emotional stimulation to help the listener want to buy know how to follow his particular methodology. When the teacher finds and shares personally where he is emotionally connected to his spiritual work, he then can allow the listener to experience that emotion. An unguarded speaker is an emotionally available teacher and can begin a relationship with the listeners. I ask all of my guests to find their honesty and try to share that honesty during our interview. Regardless of the material, a teacher who is willing to share his sadness, fear, excitement or any other range of true feelings will captivate his audience.

The last step in engaging an audience and clientele is to express the relevance of the spiritual material. Once the listener has been hooked and then is emotionally connected to the teacher, the teacher must share why his life methods are relevant in the life of the audience. The teacher must express why anyone should pray, meditate, practice ritual or any other type of spiritual method.

Regardless of the spiritual methodology, the audience must see how they will grow smarter, more successful and feel spiritually more grounded after practicing the methods of the teacher. Once the teacher himself believes his listeners must know the information available from a particular spiritual method, then he can transfer this belief to his listener. And, the listener begins to believe that he must better know the teacher.

A successful teacher believes that his spiritual method is helpful to the spiritual and emotional needs of his audience. And, he believes that his information will help the human condition. When a guest-teacher participates in interviews using a success oriented belief system his methods will fall into the hearts of others and every public speaking engagement will be a good one.

sHEALy (Sherry Healy)