Month: March 2018

Writing an effective sales advertisement for your ATV or dirt bike can mean the difference between selling your vehicle or not. This article discusses some things you can do to increase your success at selling your vehicle.

Pointers for Writing an Ad

Price Considerations

Give Basic Information

Be Honest, and Straightforward

Pointers for Writing an Ad: Think about it for a second, the point of writing a sales advertisement is to sell your ATV or dirt bike, quickly and at a good price. It is not rocket science, and can be done effective by anyone. An effective sales advertisement should include the sale price, some basic information about the vehicle, and your contact information. Including too little or too much information can avert interested buyers, reduce your chances of selling your used vehicle, and waste everybody’s time.

An effective sales ad for your ATV or dirt bike should include all the basic information a buyer will need to make an initial assessment of your vehicle.

Price Considerations: How to price your vehicle for sale can be difficult, but if you do your homework you should be able to price it correctly. Factors that can affect price are; age, condition, features, and accessories. One of the mistakes many make when listing the price of a used vehicle is they list it too low. Whatever price you decide on, you should add a couple hundred dollars to the price so you give yourself some room to negotiate. This is a buffer that may be the difference between selling the vehicle or not.

A realistic price with a buffer for negotiation is the best method for selling your ATV or dirt bike quickly.

Give Basic Information: When putting your ad together it is vital that you include the make and model of the vehicle so prospective buyers can determine if the vehicle is right for them. Also you will want to include any special features the vehicle may have to make it more attractive to buyers. If offering any accessories which will be included in the purchase price, you will want to list them in the ad too. Finally you will want to list your contact information. It is recommended to only include your phone, or you may find people showing up unexpectedly to see the vehicle.

Take a look at other ATV or dirt bike sales advertisements, and model your ad after one that appeals to you.

Be Honest, and Straightforward: This section is where a lot of sellers may get into trouble when designing their sales ad. Many tend to hype the ad and the vehicle for sale, far beyond the condition, and capability of the vehicle. It is important that you be as honest and straightforward as you can be. If the vehicle has challenges, state them. If it will need certain repairs, let the prospective buyer know this. It is better to be upfront regarding any factors of the sale, rather then wasting time, or having to deal with them later.

Being honest and straightforward with your ad and with buyers can save a lot of headache later on after the sale has been made.

Do you know how to take advantage of opportunities that come your way?

Do you even recognize all of the wonderful opportunities that are available to you right now, if you just open the door?

Or, do you tend to think you could be successful "if only______" (fill in the blank with whatever you THINK you are waiting for)?

Highly successful people tend to take advantage of whatever opportunities come their way. In fact, many of these people tend to believe that success is just "an opportunity waiting to happen." They EXPECT wonderful opportunities to come to them. Which means they are always on the lookout for some pleasant potential, and usually they are not disappointed.

They open the door to realize, "the sky is the limit." You know many people like this. They're the ones who "make lemonade" when presented with a bag of lemons because they have recognized the lemons for their potential – they represent an opportunity for something better. Successful people do not bemoan what they do not have.

They use what they DO have to realize their potential, which means they often become more and more successful as time goes on. Today, make a list of all the skills, resources, and opportunities you DO have. Try to see things in a new way so that you are not missing the opportunities that are right there before you. Then decide how you will use these things to your advantage.

Opportunity knocks every day.

But it's up to you to open the door.

Try it!

Where do you begin when you want to start writing a book? Work on the book’s title. Working on the title will help answer your readers’ questions regarding the topic and also help you to focus. Start writing your book in the form of a thesis. State in the opening sentences what main problems there are and how the book will go about solving them. Also, state the book’s purpose and significance. It takes two significations to write a book. With three significations you have the making of a great seller. If writers focus on two to three significations for their book, they won’t have to fear it won’t sell.

What are the important aspects when it comes to writing a book

An important part of your book’s success is pinpointing your target audience. Yes it is true, your book will not be of interest to everyone. Once you’ve targeted your audience tell them what benefits the book will bring them and why you are writing your book. State your reasons for creating the book. Those who will be most interested in knowing why you wrote the book are: the media outlets and individual book enthusiasts. Write your goals for publishing your book.

What are some of the questions that need to be answered when writing your first book

Will you be giving free copies away to a particular group, friends or family members? Or will you be selling your book instead? In your first year how many books do you want to sell? Each month how much money do you want to earn? What would be your publishing format: e-books, print on demand, print quality needed, traditional or self publishing. Work to organize parts of your book In separate files keep your resources, indexes, body, ending and introduction. Also keep a separate file for your bibliography, quotes and testimonials. Keep your chapters in organized files correctly labeled with the ability to be able to retrieve in minutes. Remember the 80/20 rule where 20% of your papers are the most important. As your book project grows, keep your file vertically ordered to save you time and limit frustration. It’s a good idea to store your files on your computer. These are some of the steps to how to start writing a book from scratch. I’m sure if you search offline and online you will find much more helpful information.

Have you ever been caught off guard at an event where it would be appropriate for a board member to make a short, impromptu “appeals speech” but there is no one equipped and willing to make that appeal? As part of being an advocate for your nonprofit organization, every board member should be prepared to deliver an “appeals speech” that can be used at information sessions, fundraising events, or member/donor meetings.

Everyone (board members, staff and volunteers) can become a stronger advocate for your nonprofit organization and use the Appeals Speech outline, below, to develop a personalized 4-5 minute talk to solicit donations from any audience. Using the ideas presented in each step, anyone can mix and match the sentences (or add their own) to create an appeals speech that is comfortable for them. Then, everyone associated with your organization can be ready to make the speech at any time – at formal or informal settings, with audiences large or small.

Forward your board members a copy of this Appeals Speech outline today.

Step 1: Introduction (30 seconds)

1. My name is __________ and I’d like to introduce my husband/wife

2. I’m a board member/committee chair/officer of xyz organization.

3. Thanks so much for being here today.

4. I’m so proud to be on the board of directors of xyz organization.

5. I never tire of hearing about and talking about our programs and projects.

Step 2: The Need Described (30 second) What problem is the organization trying to solve?

1. As you heard today, there are X (#) of people in _______ with _____ (disease, poverty stat, literacy, etc)

2. Our community suffers from _________________

3. Statistics show that _____________________

4. Unfortunately, we know that ________________________________

5. As we were reminded today, ___________________________________

Step 3: Mission and Accomplishments (1 minute) What is the focus of the organization?

1. The focus of xyz organization is ____________________

2. As you know, we work with ______________(client group) and provide ______________

3. Last year, we delivered _____________________ (statistic)

4. We have X (#) volunteers and X (#) staff members who work full time to ensure that _______

5. Already this year, we have supported/provided/delivered ____________________

6. I’d like to tell you about a recent experience I had with one of our clients. (tell the story)

7. It makes me feel good when I know that my financial support goes to help ____

Step 4: Budget Considerations (1 minute) What it costs to run the organization.

1. To support our staff, officers, and operations/programs, we need to raise about $X per year.

2. Our annual budget is $ X per year.

3. We enjoy the financial support of corporate sponsors like ____ and _____.

4. We proactively apply for 6-8 government and foundation grants each year.

5. We have _____ (#) members whose dues help support our programs.

6. Nearly $ X/Y% per year comes from individual donors like you.

7. X% of every dollar does directly to support our ____________ programs.

Step 5: The Appeal (30 seconds) Making the ask – short and sweet

1. Your donation of $X today will provide _______________

2. If you could give us $X/month over the next year, you would support ______________

3. Won’t you join _________ (spouse’s name) and me in investing in this important cause?

4. Won’t you consider supporting xyz organization?

5. I’m here to ask you to make a pledge/donation to xyz organization today.

6. We particularly need funds to support our _______________ project.

7. Please think carefully about the stories you’ve heard today and consider helping clients like ________ with a charitable donation today.

Step 6: The Mechanics of a Donation or Pledge (30 seconds) How to make the donation.

1. In the back of your program you will see a donation/pledge card which you can tear out and leave with your donation/pledge today.

2. Your table captain has your pledge card that can accompany your donation today.

3. By leaving your donation and contact information with one of the scribes circulating throughout the room, you can join hundreds of others who have helped our clients.

4. There are volunteers at the donor station near the back of the room who can collect your donations today.

5. Let me introduce the other board members who are circulating in the audience/room here today and who can answer other questions you might have. They would love to talk to you about the work of xyz organization.

Step 7: Thank You

1. Thank you for coming today enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

2. Thank you for your attention.

3. Thank you for being with us today to learn more about xyz organization.

4. Thanks for coming today and helping us promote this wonderful organization.

Teenage pregnancy is a hot topic. For some reason, especially in the U.S., we don’t like to talk about sex or what could happen when you have it. For this reason, teenagers are misinformed about sex and the repercussions of it such as an unwanted pregnancy. Perhaps if teens knew the facts, they would wait or at least be more mature about having sex. Teenage girls who don’t take the proper precautions could get pregnant. Teenage boys who don’t make sure they take precautions could get a girl pregnant. Using a condom is not a full proof way to prevent pregnancy; you need another contraceptive to use with it.

Your parents may disown you. Unfortunately, this does happen, especially if parents are ‘super’ religious. They’re probably more disappointed in themselves than you. They’ll question what they did wrong as parents. They’ll question ‘why’ you got pregnant and what they could have done to prevent it from happening. Hopefully, parents will realize that stuff happens and help you deal with your teen pregnancy.

The baby could have birth defects. It’s possible that your baby could have birth defects because of your age. Since your body isn’t fully developed, it could play a role in whether or not your child has birth defects.

You could have a complicated pregnancy because of your young age. Again, your body isn’t fully developed or matured. This could cause you to have a complicated pregnancy which isn’t good for your or the baby’s health.

Your body will go through changes that you may not be ready to handle. You may not ready for the bodily changes that come with pregnancy. In fact, it could freak you out. You may not be ready for stretch marks, intense hormones, or weight gain. It’s important to eat a healthy diet which will provide you and your baby the proper nutrients. Don’t think about ‘starving’ yourself because you don’t want to gain weight. This isn’t healthy for you or your child.

Your friends could leave you. Unfortunately, your friends may not hang around with you if you have a child. They won’t be able to relate to you. They’ll want to go out on Friday and the weekend and do what teenagers do. They may even feel guilty because they get to be ‘footloose and fancy free’ while you increased responsibility. They may not know what to say or how to act around you. If your friends do leave, it’s important that you have support. Join a group for teenage moms. This way you’ll be surrounded by people who can relate to you and your situation.

You may not finish high school as scheduled. You may not finish high school on time, depending on when you’re scheduled to deliver your baby. Whatever you do — graduate from high school. Maybe you can make up classes during summer school or take the GED. Whatever you do, get your high school diploma!

Your boyfriend may not stand by you. Believe it or not, your boyfriend may not stand by you. He may stay for a few months, but the situation could overwhelm him. If this happens, it’s important to tell your child it’s not their fault. Mourn the loss of your boyfriend and move forward with your life. This won’t be easy at first but you’ll get through it.

You’re not emotionally or financially ready for kids. How developed are your emotions? How big is your checking and savings account? Do you have a checking and savings account? Having a child is a major responsibility that you’re probably not prepared for. Heck, most people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s aren’t prepared emotionally or financially to have kids. Having a child is a HUGE deal. Think about what you’ll need: food, shelter, clothing, money, love, and support. If you can’t provide the basic essentials for yourself, how will you be able to provide for a baby?

Having a baby so you can feel love is not a reason to have a child. Please don’t have a baby because you want to feel loved — this isn’t a good enough reason. Know that you’re valuable and have something to offer to this world. Love yourself and love will find you!

It’s painful. Having a child doesn’t tickle. Most women plan to forgo medication because they want a natural childbirth. However, they usually change their mind once the pain kicks in. Think about this: it’s like pushing a watermelon through a tiny hole. Ouch!

Obviously, the girl deals with the pregnancy more than the guy. Your body will change and it may become uncomfortable. Ask any woman about pregnancy and they’ll tell you it hurt likes heck! Some try to forgo using any medication but they usually have medication to numb the pain. Do you want to experience this at the age of 14, 15, or 16? If you think menstrual cramps hurt, try having a child!

Mantra Meditations

Down through the ages there have been stories of the mysterious power of Mantras. Every country in the world has their own set of Mantras.

Mantras were and are used to heal, to protect, to attract love, to attract wealth and even to punish and kill.

Marching armies who chant or sing the same words or songs are sending the powerful energies out in front of them. Vikings used to chant Odin, Odin, Odin as they charged towards their enemies. It is said that the power of Odin’s chant caused many an enemy to break and run.

A Mantra, be it a mental intonation, a sing-song, a chant or a full blown shout is all about energy.

In Tibet and India they have prayer wheels with words, symbols, mantras, chants and prayers attached to them. When the wind blows it causes the wheel to spin and pours forth the energy of the written words and symbols.

Since windmill technology in this country is growing in popularity we should incorporate the Tibetan prayer wheel technique into the operation.

What if we painted, in 10 foot letters, power words like, ‘Peace’, ‘Love’, ‘Health’, ‘Prosperity’, and ‘God’ on the spinning blades of the windmill.

Look at the wonderful and powerful energies that would be sent out into the environment. Anyone reading this article, who has the power to start this campaign – well get on with it!

Where do Mantras get their powerful vibrations from? The Quantum Ocean, Mind of God.

The Age of Aquarius has given us the gift of the Laws of Quantum Physics. These Laws tell us that there exists an infinite ocean of thinking, intelligent energy called the Quantum Ocean. We can view this as the Mind of God.

There is no time, no past, present nor future there. There is no space, nor distance. Only the HERE-NOW!

The Quantum Ocean, Mind of God responds to our thoughts. Our thoughts and words, which are spoken thoughts, pull the un-manifested intelligent energy out of the Quantum Ocean and manifests it as physical energy and part of our reality. Thoughts create physical reality.

All is energy and all is under law.

The Mantras, chants and prayer wheels contain energy and when they are spoken or spun by the wind they pour that energy out into the atmosphere.

The closer the words of the Mantra or prayer wheel match an energy in the Quantum Ocean, the more powerful the manifestation.

You wouldn’t sit in your chair and meditate and intone words like ‘blah, blah, blooey’. (Like so many of today’s modern inane songs. They create chaos and destruction). Rather meditate on words of peace and power.

I personally do my Mantras every night before I retire. I sit in my favorite easy chair and hold my mantra beads in my right hand. I made these Mantra beads by stringing 40 beads on a strong string. I have a large one that I start with, then every ten beads I have a smaller one to count off the ‘tens’. The ‘tens’ are the smallest. Three size beads.

Repetition is powerful and I sit there quietly intoning my Mantras, 40 at a time.

Just think of the millions of Catholics with their Rosary beads. What power.

And the Buddhist with the Buddha beads. What power. Why give all this power away? Use it for yourself!

I choose Mantras that are very powerful, far reaching and suitable for creating, a more powerful future reality for myself.

I Will share four of them with you.

(1) “I am an infinite being dwelling in the light surrounded and supported by spiritual powers.”

Look at the powerful key words I am pulling out of the Quantum Ocean, Mind of God and into my reality. What do you put in your psyche before retiring? Rap music? TV nonsense or the News? You are literally destroying any chances for a better future for yourself. What you carry in your aura creates your life.

(2) “I dwell in perfect peace profound, my kingdom now is here and found.”

Wonderful peaceful energy for bedtime.

(3) “God Guides

God Provides

God Heals

God Reveals

God Protects

God Perfects.”

A constant reminder that I am not in control.

(4) “Absolute Power

Limitless Light

Infinite harmony

Eternal Duration.”

If you can think of four more powerful words than these that you would like to manifest into your life – go for it.

Mantras + Power Words + Quantum Physics+ + Mind of God + Repetition = Health, Wealth and Happiness.

1. Fairness. As a journalist, it’s very important that you’re not biased when writing your articles. You should not take any side of the story. Remember, your goal here is to serve the people. You ought to give them balanced news each time you tap on your keyboard. There shouldn’t be any point where you’ll resort to blatant lie or when you’ll over stretch the truth. Believe me, this will ruin your credibility in no time.

2. Clarity. Unless you’re writing your news articles to win literary awards, you should make clarity your number one priority. Instead of using high fallutin words that will leave your readers guessing as to what you’re trying to get across, use simple terms as much as possible. Your audience must be able to understand your stories the first time that they read your articles.

3. Conciseness. This means completeness and brevity. Remember, less is more in the field of news writing. You should be able to tell your chosen stories using as few words as possible. You should also avoid redundancy or unnecessary repetition at all times. Conciseness also means using the most effective words in getting your message across. This is not only to save some space but also to help your readers save their precious time.

4. Timeliness. As your job is to keep your readers updated on the recent events that are happening around them, you should always focus on writing stories that are recent and newsworthy. Writing something that happened yesterday will not help you get your news articles noticed. You should go out there and find out the things that are happening right now. Do all your might to make sure that you’re the first one to write about them.

It is said that writing can be a lonely experience. One where you toil through the days and work straight into the nights, tapping away on a keyboard or draining ink from a pen or lead from pencil as you scribble away on paper. For sure in those times, a writer needs the space to germinate the writing seed which hopefully was planted in those quiet times of isolation. Children are phenomenal at this and they don’t even skip a beat when they’re creating. As soon as they put their little heads on their pillows, they’re off to some dreamland, some place where their make believe is exactly that – make believe. But as proponents of imagination, we must guard against what they see, feel or hear since any negativity can have an impact in their ‘mindspace’.

Creating the masterpiece manuscript does take time and having the space to do so is important. Invaluable actually. But then as human beings we need to create a space anyway in order to be still and rejuvenate. So as a writer it’s even moreso imperative to be still so that the creative juices are able to flow.

Talk to like-minded people. Put on some music. Take a walk in the park. Close your eyes and breathe for a few minutes inhaling the goodness Mother Nature always gives; allowing her to energise every cell and membrane in your mind, body and soul. Eat natural and mind-filling food. Read entertaining, empowering and enlightening books and turn off the television but if you do watch it, discern storylines and scrutinise characterisation (since this helps with building your own writing expertise). Absorbing these subliminal images and dialogues into your cerebral cortex and effectively, your consciousness, only adds to your repertoire.

It really isn’t loneliness, you know. It’s just about creating a space where you recuperate and re-energise. And about internalising everything that happens around you, sucking into your being what has already been described and mixing it all up in the blender called your mind. All with the provisio that what you intake makes you and your writing magnificently better.

The created void is the beginning of the process of letting yourself be, feel and hear. Followed by the visualising of what it is you want to write, be it an essay, composition, story, article or blog. It’s great to imagine, allowing the thoughts to wonder, randomly or otherwise and what then manifests, emerging from that creative void, is a piece of work inspired by the Universal ether.

The first time I had sung the National Anthem composed by Rabindranath Tagore, the rhythm and the tune touched my heart and magnified the love for Bangladesh. I started reading his short stories and poems, which he created for children gave me real pleasure. His power of simplification and showing the beauty of truth within little things for extensive exemplification for which my inquisitiveness feelings make him my favorite author. The Tagore’s were of a cultured and wealthy family. Rabindranath Tagore was born in 7th May 1861 and died in 7th August 1941. His father, Devendranath, was one of the leaders of the Brahma Samaj. The poet’s early life was spent in an atmosphere of religion and arts, literature, music and paintings. As an author, the trend of his life was early contemplated. He was brought up and taught on three languages- Sanskrit, Bengali and English.

Tagore’s literary life outspread over sixty years, and he reminds one of Victor Hugo in the copiousness and variety of his work: over one thousand poems; nearly two dozen plays and play-lets; eight novels; eight or more volumes of short stories; more than two thousands songs, of which he wrote both the words and the music; and a mass of prose on literary, social, religious, political, and other topics. In addition to his English translations of some of his literary works; his paintings; his travels and lecture-tours in Asia, America, and Europe; and his activities as an educationist, as a social and religious reformer, and as a politician- and there we have, judged by quantity alone, the life work of a Nipple. Suffice it to say that his genius was no more than the capacity for taking infinite pains; but to note the element of steel and concrete that went to his making, and thus to dispose of the legend, that has grown in some quarters in recent years, of Tagore the pale-lily poet of ladies’ table.

In 1901 he founded his school, the Santiniketan, at Bolpur as a protest against the existing evil system of education. The school was a great success and transfigured Viswabharati. On revisiting England in 1911 he brought with him the English Gitanjali, and it’s publication in 1912 and the award of the Nobel Prize for literature the following year made him world-famous. This was the first award of that prize to an Asiatic. The rest of Tagore’s life was spent at Santiniketan, except for several travels and lecture-tours in which he carried his message of human unity to all the important countries of Asia, America and Europe.

Tagore was a proud and ardent patriot. His most intense period of political activity was in the years following 1905, when the agitation against the partition of Bengal was at its highest speed. He renounced his knighthood in 1919 as protest against the Amritsar affair in a letter to the Viceroy, which is among the great documents of freedom. His patriotic poems and songs, particularly the latter, have passed into the common heritage of his country; the song “Bharata-bhagya-vidata” is now sung all over India and “Amar sonar Bangla” in Bangladesh as the national anthem. In this respect I would like to discuss a few of his books which have stirred my heart towards having an unbounded pleasure of spiritual as well as real cultural life.

HOIMONTI

It is a remarkable short story where Tagore has tried to reflect a contrast between the two families comprising of conservatism and modernism. Hoimonti was educated in modern system of education where her father had influenced her by proper knowledge, culture, heritage and means to retaliate the real life situation. But as ill luck would have it, she was married with Opu, a son of conservative family. This family believed in superstitions and social customs. Opu’s father and mother had prejudice, which would influence Hoimonti tremendously. In the last Hoimonti was faded and her father-in-law was looking for another bride for his son.

BOLAI

This story is about a boy who doesn’t have a mother and was brought up by his aunt. He developed the character, which is different from his age group. He has an uncommon fondness towards the plants and trees. Bolai would not tolerate if anybody would weed out any plants and trees. He thought that every plant has a unique life, which is unknown to everybody. He showed all his love and sympathy even for the tree which grew in an unsuitable place. In the last his most favourite tree was cut down when his father took to Shimla for higher studies. Bolai’s aunt was shocked at the demolition of the tree, which she thought was the personification of Bolai.

SHESHER KABITA

It is a famous novel created by Tagore. The actress of the story is Labonno and the actor is Amit. The contrast and love affairs of them have been reflected in a significant manner. The book has the greatest literary value in the world. The real love an affair with high world literature has been vividly reflected here where the two craving personalities are eagerest to know each other. They were devoid of greed, jealousy, allusion and bad temperament and they know how to tackle the social confliction and criticism of social critics.

KABULIWALA

The main characters of this story are a girl named Mini and Rahmat the Kabuliwala. Kabuliwala is from Afghanistan; he sells things from door to door. Once she was introduced to Mini, the talkative girl who was five years old. The man has left his daughter who is of Mini’s age back home. Mini and Kabuliwala developed a very good friendship. Kabuliwala used to bring dry fruits for Mini as present and showed the patience of listening to Mini. They used to tease each other about “going to in-laws house”. For some reason the man has to go to prison for eight years. After coming from jail he wanted to meet Mini. But, at that time Mini’s marriage ceremony was going on. In the past eight years she has forgotten her friend Kabuliwala. She was not friendly like her childhood and was feeling shy seeing him. Kabuliwala could feel the distance the time has passed between them and his daughter.

POSTMASTER

It is a short story by Rabindranath regarding a postmaster. The postmaster was transferred to a village post office of India. Here he met a girl named Ratan with whom he would always continue conversation hours after hours. One day the postmaster fell ill, Ratan has looked after him and in this way a close relationship was developed between them. When the postmaster was transferred to the town again the girl became shocked and she asked him to take her with him but the postmaster was not in a position to take her. Rattan lived with the sheer pain of the lovely memory; she had spent with the postmaster.

I like Rabindranath’s book because I come to learn many things about the land, people and nature. We learn the problems, religion, culture and heritage of Bengali life. His books sometimes really create thrill, intuition and excitement for the readers by reflecting the social conflicts and contrast between conservative and modern educated people. Furthermore, his poetry ingrained in common life has been vividly contemplated in a significant manner, which stir my heart to a great extent.

A comedy skit can be effectively used in church worship services to communicate Biblical truth. And you don’t have to be a professional writer or actor to create funny characters and humorous drama that is entertaining, but still makes a powerful, spiritual impact on your church congregation. Although I work professionally as a freelance copywriter, I have also written church drama for over 20 years. Here are some skit writing techniques I use to create funny characters and humorous church drama.

Form church skit characters around your actors

A Hollywood script creates a character and then the director finds an actor to play that part. But that’s Hollywood. And those actors are professionals. They dedicate themselves to learning how to play a variety of characters.

The actors in your church skit are mostly amateurs. That doesn’t mean they aren’t talented. But they won’t be as versatile as a professional. So instead of making them adapt to a part in your skit, adapt the skit part to them. In other words, write the part to complement their natural personality and talents. If your actor is naturally gregarious, make their skit character gregarious. If in real life, they are thoughtful and analytical, make their skit character the same way. If they have demonstrated talents, like a French accent or an Elvis impersonation, incorporate it into the skit. By forming the characters of your drama around the actual personalities and talents of your actors, you create a part that is easier for them to naturally play and a character the church audience will enjoy.

Make use of stereotypes

A 3-5 minute skit does not allow enough time for much character development. So using common stereotypes makes it easy for your actors to assume a part and your church audience to understand the essence of the character.

o The dumb blonde

o The computer geek

o The insensitive jock

o The power hungry executive

These are all familiar characters that are easy for actors to play and easy to form into a humorous skit. When you think about the funny characters of movies and sitcoms you’ve watched, they are often built around a stereotype. I’m sure as you engage in your skit writing, you’ll think of many others.

Exaggeration

Don’t just make the blonde in your church skit a little dumb. Make her really dumb. Your insensitive jock, completely oblivious to any life outside of sports. The computer geek unable to hold a conversation with an actual human being. Someone who is not just afraid of heights, but paralyzed in fear on the second step of a ladder. The more you exaggerate, the funnier it is and the less likely the actor in the skit will resemble an actual person in the church.

Contrast

Even a person in your church with minimal acting ability will have your church audience laughing by simply putting them into a skit character that is the opposite of who they are in real life. And you may be surprised by that person’s willingness, not only to accept the part, but to ham it up on stage.

Is there a solemn usher who always wears a suit to church? Put him in a long wig and a rock band outfit. Let your children’s pastor portray a spoiled, bratty kid. Your most talented vocalist play an American Idol contestant that sings way off key. By using familiar people in your church with known traits and talents and putting them into a role that is the complete opposite of who they are in real life, you create instant humor for any skit.

By using these techniques in writing your skit, you will more effectively use your actors to create comedy that your church audience will appreciate, but still effectively communicates your message.