When I say the word “practice,” what comes to mind? You may think “boring” or “unnecessary.” But I doubt any of us would claim it isn’t beneficial. From sports to entertainment, athletes and performers know the importance of practice. So why shouldn’t we?

If one of your goals as a preacher is to improve your craft, one of the foundational steps you should implement is practicing your sermon prior to preaching it the first time. I can already sense your hesitation, though. You don’t have time. It’s too awkward. But if you give it a chance I’m sure it will make a big difference.

Here are three benefits of practicing what you preach before you preach it.

Improve Your Delivery
Practicing your sermon before you get on stage will improve how well you deliver it on Sunday. Don’t rely on your own judgment while you’re speaking to gauge whether you’re being effective or not. And don’t let your audience’s reaction be your barometer, either. Use your practice time to check how your delivery is going.

When you’re speaking, your body naturally relaxes to some regular habits you’ve developed over the years. These habits can be anything from a tic to awkwardly pacing to the repetition of a filler word, “like” or “yaknow.” We often don’t notice these things happening in the middle of our sermon because they’re so natural to us.

Practicing your message beforehand — out loud, and preferably in front of a mirror — gives you the advantage of catching these tics and phrases as they happen. As you watch yourself and listen to your speech, you might find something that you never noticed before. You also get a chance to practice delivering a specific line or raising and lowering your voice for effect. These are the types of improvements that people dedicated to the craft of preaching focus on. Great preachers aren’t just born that way. It takes practice over and over again to create a great delivery.

Decrease Your Errors
Another advantage of practicing beforehand is that you can catch a mistake before you say it on Sunday. There may be a typo in your notes that you didn’t notice while preparing. Or maybe you’ve got an incorrect scripture reference written down. You were thinking “James,” but wrote down “John” by accident. That’s something you might catch on the fly on Sunday morning. But practicing will give you a greater chance of avoiding that error.

Great preachers aren’t just born that way. It takes practice over and over again to create a great delivery.

Speaking your sermon out loud will also give you a chance to hear it as you say it. Often our written words “sound” different than our spoken words. What we thought we were clear on may actually be misleading when we say it. By saying it out loud, you get a chance to make sure it’s exactly right. This is especially important when it comes to doctrine, theological truths and scriptural interpretation.

In the process of research you might have jotted down a note. But now as you read it back out loud you find it contradicts some other theological principle you know to be true. Now you’ve got a chance to correct it before you preach. This will help you avoid confusing your audience and raising questions later.

Sharpen Your Focus
Some of the best advice I got starting out was to find your point and stick to your point. That requires focus. As you continue to grow as a preacher and get quite a few messages under your belt, there is a tendency to go off the cuff and “speak from the heart.” But these detours can often blur the lines of your intended message.

By practicing your message out loud, you can check to make sure each point is driving home the same theme and the same big idea. Does this interpretation and explanation of scripture fit with my overall message? Does this illustration support what I’m trying to say, or is it distracting? Does this joke draw people toward the main point, or does it take them further away? Practice will help you stay focused on the main idea from start to finish.

Practicing your sermon before Sunday is a lot like flossing: we know it’s helpful, but only a few of us actually do it. But just like flossing, if you make it a habit it’s easier to stick with it. Make practicing your sermon a habit of your prep time. Set aside a half an hour to go over your notes out loud, and I know you’ll be on your way to being a better communicator.