The Paradox Box

A typical situation most speakers and presenters face is to explain paradox and contradiction.

The simple way to illustrate paradox is with a simple rectangle and a diagonal line running form one corner to opposite corner.

Check out this little diagram. The more you work, the more the more energy you use.

On my favorite list of favorite “presenters” is Dr. Howard Hendricks, of the Dallas Theological Seminary. His tenure has spanned from 1951 until now. (He is still going in his eighties.)

He has been a huge part of many influential church leaders. Thousand and thousands and thousands of them.

I’ve watched his work since the early ‘60’s. My evaluation of his illustrious career is that, “he is the greatest teacher of teacher in my lifetime.”

Back in 1988, he and his star student, Bruce Wilkinson, published The 7 Laws of the Teacher series.

In the workbook for that course, Hendricks included a model and with that model this quotation, “The higher your predictability, the lower your impact. Conversely. . . the lower your predictability, the higher your impact.” *

That simple graphic has influenced my teaching profoundly every since.

His publisher has this visual aid locked by a copyright so I can’t reproduce it for you. But if you substitute the words predictability, and impact for work and energy and you’ve pretty much have the message.

Predictability kills presentations and speeches. Impact is the reward for being creative and changing things up. These two approaches are world’s apart.

You can use this same visual approach to illustrate any paradox that you want to discuss.

Wayne

P.S. So, add this to your list, , , "another visual aid you can use in tomorrows' presentation."

* Dr. Howard Hendricks, The 7 Laws of the Teacher, (Atlanta GA, Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, Inc., 1988) p.78