Elder Bednar is a very clear and direct speaker. His messages are easy to understand and he is very precise in the words he chooses to convey his point. This is a great strength in his style of speaking, as it enables listeners to pick out specific points applicable to them from across the speech and discern the "what" of his message very clearly from his crisp delivery. What most impressed me however was that despite a tight, doctrinal approach Elder Bednar's speeches are not at all dry. He still manages to make his addresses emotional and captivating to his audience largely through his effective storytelling.
In "Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease", Elder Bednar launches immediately into a personal anecdote of a friend's attempt to free his newly purchased truck from heavy snow. The way he crosses over from the circumstances of the story to our personal need to accept trials and rely on the atonement creates a powerful appeal to the emotion of the audience. The man in his story is real, his situation feels real and he had to make some real decisions about what he was going to put into the back of his truck to move him forward and out of the snow. The parallel Elder Bednar draws with our very real need for traction-providing burdens to access the atonement of Christ has a more powerful and personal effect than reading his selection from Mosiah 24 alone would have been.
Perhaps as a continuation of his invitation to members to "flood the earth with gospel messages" this past August, in "Come and See" Elder Bednar chose to speak again on missionary work- this time from the Non-Latter Day Saint perspective. Here the same technique as before is visible, and Elder Bednar shares a heart-warming story of his little boy helping his brother after being hurt. Again the story is personal and emotional, adding to the doctrinal message of missionary work motivated by brotherly love. Just as in the former address, Elder Bednar draws a powerful comparison for the audience with a subtle tweak. Instead of the more personal connection made with the man's truck and our individual load, he skillfully portrays member missionaries as friendly and innocent helpers to the audience he defines as those not of our faith. Simply and beautifully he conveys a powerful message to nonmembers watching- Member friends may be awkward and overzealous in sharing the gospel, but they sure do love you.
