What Makes Jeffrey R. Holland Such a Great Speaker

In Jeffrey R. Holland’s BYU devotional address titled “Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments”, the language is incredibly eloquent.  Jeffrey R. Holland is my favorite speaker out of all of the apostles, and this devotional address is yet another reason why.

The message that Elder Holland gives in this address is incredible in and of itself, but the way he gives it is what really makes it special.  Elder Holland truly speaks from the heart, which is where I believe a good portion of the power of his speeches comes from.  When someone is truly sincere and speaks with such conviction, it is hard to ignore the message that he/she is giving.  It also helps support the truthfulness of the message, because usually people are very sincere about the truth, or at least about what they perceive to be the truth.

However, I wanted to mostly focus on how Elder Holland “ornaments” his speeches using powerful language.  Elder Holland uses some of the most powerful words and phrases available in the English language to teach even some of the most basic (and yet still very important) doctrines.  He uses words such as “devastated”, “merely sensational”, and “carelessness” to convey intense messages about his topic.  One of the phrases Elder Holland begins with is “If I am not careful and you are not supportive, this subject can slide quickly from the sacred into the merely sensational, and I would be devastated if that happened.”  The choice of words there conveys his meaning perfectly, and really grabs the attention of the listener or reader.

Elder Holland could have just given a simple speech about the Law of Chastity and why one should obey it.  Teaching in such a way can be alright, but it is not nearly as effective or lasting.  When one uses words and phrases and sincerity that are combined together in such an incredible way as Elder Holland did in this devotional address, the important messages are remembered and internalized much more efficiently.

I, for one, can often remember with much more clarity the doctrines and principles taught by Elder Holland very easily, and they have really meant a lot to me.  However, I have heard plenty of speeches from others that have failed to do the same, and I have mostly forgotten them.  I believe this is due to the incredible way that Elder Holland “ornaments” his speeches.