There’s a sense in which Danielle Harris was literally born for public speaking. Technically, it’s the family business.
A self-identified “preacher’s kid,” Harris was raised under the ministry of her parents, Pastors Regina and Claude Harris Sr., the founders of New Life Worship Center, where her brother, Claude Harris Jr., is currently senior pastor and Danielle herself is an elder.
“I got my start in public speaking and marketing and in public relations, in a sense, because when you’re the pastor’s kid you have to learn how to connect with people from all different backgrounds,” she said.
MORE: MIS Committee to discuss MOU with City of Grovetown
Her rearing in ministry developed, aptly, alongside a career in communications and public relations that has now spanned two decades, including time as an adjunct professor at Augusta University and public information manager for the City of Augusta.
Along the way, Harris saw fit to combine the overlapping skillsets and experience in the fields of communication and Christian leadership by launching The Preaching Executive, a coaching and consulting firm geared primarily — though not exclusively — toward pastors and preachers.
“I saw that there was a need in the church…What can we do to be more polished?” said Harris, who says her parents, who strove to maintain what she refers to as a “ministry of excellence,” as her inspiration. “They taught all of us to strive for excellence in whatever we did.”
Among the key issues ministers consult Harris about, she says, is finding the language to inspire and engage their staff and volunteers — or “language that leads;” how to communicate with donors and others who help financially support the church, and how to talk with the media.
MORE: Candidate for lieutenant governor stresses unity
“Believe it or not, I have some pastors who are so afraid of the media, and I’m like, ‘Don’t be afraid of them. They’re your partners!” said Harris.
An important quality of pulpit ministry that can prove valuable to public speakers in other contexts, such as CEOs at corporate meetings or keynote speakers at conferences, is the more empathetic approach of listening to people’s stories, Harris says.
“I think oftentimes we don’t really listen to people, and that’s why we don’t communicate well with them,” she said. “One of the biggest things that people can learn from those who really try to strengthen their skill in ministry, is that when you have to work with people with such diverse backgrounds, there is so much benefit to listening to people’s stories and asking questions. Because when you are delivering a speech, storytelling is a key part of that.”
The Preaching Executive is 10 years old, now, but Harris is taking its leadership, communications and ministry operations to a wider audience in a series of upcoming workshops.
The three hour-long sessions, conducted on the first Mondays of August, September and October at the Pinnacle Club, will entail training topics much like those about which clergy confers with her: public speaking, effective organizational communication and, of course, media interviewing.
The workshops, she says, are not only for ministers, but for anyone who could find the skills and strategies useful, which she further notes could mean, in fact, anyone.
“Ministry forces you to listen to people so you can hear what they’re not saying,” said Harris, underscoring the other ways people, consciously or unconsciously, talk to each other. “When you have that skill, you can become a better supervisor, you can become a better coworker, you can become a better spouse, a better parent, because you’re learning to listen to even what they’re not saying. You’re learning to listen to their body language, and all that helps you become a more dynamic speaker and communicator… And I learned that in church.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
