Communication

How to Prepare Your Testimony

by Jerry Walch
07/15/19
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And he said unto them, Go ye into all of the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

--Mark 16:15 AKJV

Before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave his disciples their marching orders, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Those of us today that know Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, those of us who have made him the master of our lives, are under the same marching orders. We are called to go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. No matter how we may feel about doing this, we have no choice in the matter. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15 AKJV), and “Go ye into…” is the greatest commandment of all. Beginning with this article we will explore ways that we can obey that commandment.

OK, I hear some of you saying, “But, Brother Jerry, I’m not called to preach the gospel, I’m not equipped to preach the gospel, so how can I obey that commandment? Perhaps you weren’t called to preach, many of us weren’t called to preach like “The Twelve” had been called by Jesus and if we had been called, and God would have equipped us to preach just as he had equipped “The Twelve.” On the other hand what every believer has been called to do and equipped to do is to share the Good News by sharing our personal testimonies. Each of us has many different testimonies that we can share that will show how God has worked in our lives and continues to work in our lives. Of all the many testimonies that we have to share, the most powerful, the most poignant of them all is our salvation testimony. I will devote the remainder of this article to teaching you how to prepare you salvation testimony for presentation. I will show you the steps you must take and illustrate each of those steps with illustrations from Paul’s conversion testimony and with illustrations from my salvation testimony.

Every testimony, like every oral presentation consists of three parts—an opening, a body and a close, but the first thing that we must keep foremost in mind is the time you have to present your testimony. In most situations you will be expected to present it effectively within a 3 to 5 minute time span. That time can be broken down as follows-1 to 1 1/2 minutes for the opening, 2 to 3 minutes for the body and 1 to 1 1/2 minutes for the close. Once you get all the essential details to fit a 3 to 5 minutes presentation you can easily expand it, flesh it out with more interesting details, when you are asked to speak for a longer period of time. To further help you prepare your testimony with this time framework in mind, realize that the average person speaks at the rate of 125 to 150 WPM (words per minute). Also keep in mind that it’s always better to speak more slowly, so shoot for the 125 WPM target. That breaks down to 125 to 188 words for the opening and close, and 250 to 375 words for the body of your testimony. Those aren’t very many words, but, used effectively, they will do the job.

The second thing that we will consider is the opening you will use. The purpose of the opening is to capture and hold your listener’s attention and interest. There are many different techniques used by professional orators to accomplish that, but with a personal salvation testimony, no matter what technique you choose to use, the opening must also give the listener a vivid picture of what you were like before you encountered Jesus Christ on your road to Damascus. I will be illustrating each of these parts of a salvation testimony with examples from the Bible and using my own salvation testimony. For a Biblical illustration, let’s take a look at how Paul opened his testimony in the Book of Acts 22:3—5 AKJV:

“3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.”

In a mere 112 words, Paul gives us a vivid picture of what his life was like before his encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus. Now here’s how I did it with my salvation testimony:

“I had broken almost every law known to man and God before I started traveling the road to Damascus. I was an unwanted child. My mother hated me and tried to kill me several times. She would have succeeded too if my grandmother, her mother, hadn’t driven her off me with a baseball bat. I grew up filled with anger and I took it out on everyone. All I cared about was guns, money and fast cars. The three of them led me to becoming a career criminal at very early age. I was good at what I did and it took the law 18 years to catch me. I was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 25 years in Federal prison.”

There, in just 121 words, I have given you a very vivid picture of what I was like before my encounter with Christ on my Road to Damascus.

The body of your testimony should be devoted to you conversion experience. You only have 1 1/2 to 3 minutes, 250 to 375 words, but you can say a great deal in those 250 to 375 words. Let’s take a look at how Paul used that small amount of time. Go to Acts 22:6—16.

6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.

12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.

15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Here, in approximately 220 words, Paul describes his conversion experience so vividly that makes anyone reading about it, or hearing about it, feel like they were right there with him. Perhaps my conversion experience was much less dramatic for others, but it was every bit as dramatic for me when it happened. Here’s how I traveled down my Road to Damascus:

“I was in D-Block, awaiting transfer to the West Coast Federal Prison at Lompoc when my journey began. Every day, when I went to the yard for recreation, someone threw a Bible in on my bunk. Every day, I would write F- -K Y- -U inside the front cover and toss it back out on the gallery. The next day it appeared again, my profanity carefully covered with white out. I finally got tired of this and tossed it up on the shelf over my door and quickly forgot about it even being there. When I was finally transferred to Lompoc I left it on the shelf, but, somehow it was in my bags when I unpacked them. Again I tossed it on a shelf and left it there. The first Sunday that I was there, being bored and with nothing better to do, I went to the chapel because I had been told that Chuck Colson was bringing in some pretty girls. I had never set foot in a church before in my life but I quickly begun to feel as if I belonged there. Soon I stopped ogling the pretty ladies and started listening to the message Chuck was presenting. At the end of his message when he gave an altar call, I wanted to get up and go forward, but I just couldn’t do it. Suddenly it felt as if someone or something grabbed me by the front of my shirt, yanked me to my feet, dragged me to the altar, and forced me to my knees. There with tears streaming down my face I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was converted on my 34^th birthday and then baptized scripturally one month later”

There, in approximately 290 words, I have drawn a picture of how I encountered Jesus on my Road to Damascus. The close of an oral presentation serves a number of functions but the most two important ones are a recap of everything that has already been said and a call to action. With a personal testimony it’s a little different; the close has to show what the presenter’s life has been like since his or her conversion. In most cases you won’t be expected to give a call to action, that will be left up to the pastor or some other leader of the group before which you are testifying. If you are allowed to give a call to action, it will be an invitation to accept Jesus Christ as the listener’s personal Lord and Savior. I will talk about ways to do that in a future article. For now we’ll look at how Paul and I closed our testimonies. First we’ll look at how the apostle Paul closed his powerful, poignant testimony. Go to Acts 22:17—21.

17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

Now for what my life was like after my conversion:

“Jesus said, ‘And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me (Luke 9:23 AKJV).’ Following Jesus in prison isn’t easy for a babe in Christ. The flesh wants to rebel against the unfair treatment received from the prison staff and from the other inmates, but I knew that I had to deny myself and take up my cross daily. At first it was a struggle but it became easier with the passage of time, as the staff and inmates saw that I was for real. Life has little meaning in prison, people have been killed over a pack of cigarettes, but God surrounded me with protection and even used me to bring some of those men to the foot of the cross. Even now, 18 years after my release from federal prison, God continues to use me to bring ex felons and active gang members to Christ.”

    Now that you know what goes into an effective personal testimony, write yours out and practice giving it before a mirror. Better yet, set up a video camera and record it. Watching and listening to your presentation will help you pick out the areas where you need to make changes. Before leaving you today I want to leave you with a few things to consider when actually presenting you testimony. Here’s a bulleted list:

• Keep it upbeat. Conversion is a joyful experience and that joy should come through loud and clear in your testimony.


• DO NOT EMBELISH OR LIE. Even if your listeners don’t pick on any embellishments or lies, God will and we will not use your witness and they will damage your own walk with the Lord.


• Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God Romans10:17.Keep this in mind and use scripture in your testimony wherever possible. You may have noticed that I didn’t but that was only because it was the first time I ever prepared a testimony and I had a great deal to learn.


• Employ the KISS acronym—Keep It Simple Stupid. Please don’t mistake what I’m saying here. I’m not implying that you are stupid or that the people you are speaking to are stupid. What I am saying here is to keep your wording simple. The New York Times require that their reporters write at the 6^th grade level and that’s a good policy for you to adopt too. Testimonial time is not a time to exercise your vocabulary; it’s a time to win souls for God’s Kingdom.


• Last, but not least, keep your testimony updated with current examples of how God continues to work in you and through you today.

(All scriptures used in this article are from the King James Online Bible)