How to Give Your Personal Testimony
Tommy Klineey

Do you want to know the best way to present salvation to all sorts of people? The answer is your personal testimony. The reasons are simple.

1. People are most interested in a true human interest story (they can identify with other people best), and
2. You are interested in sharing with others what Christ and salvation mean to you personally.

You may be giving your testimony to a friend, a co-worker, someone that you meet on the street, or in a church service. Here are some guidelines that will make your testimony the kind that others will like and that will bring glory to Christ:

1. Realize what is at stake: the destiny of the souls of men. You are representing Jesus Christ. II Cor. 5:18-20.
2. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom and guidance in preparing and presenting your testimony.
3. Begin with an interesting, attention-getting sentence and close with a good conclusion. Include relevant, thought provoking facts and experiences.
4. Give it in such a way that others will feel associated with you. See #8.
5. Give enough details to arouse interest.
6. You should always have a general outline already in your mind. By this, we mean that you can give your testimony in two or three minutes to an hour or more. You never know when or for how long you may be called on to give a testimony.
7. If you are the first or only one to give a testimony, always give the plan of salvation.
8. Be sure your experiences are scriptural before you share them with others. Interpret your experiences by the Word of God and not vise-versa. The Bible is our authority.
9. Be lovingly enthusiastic. Let them know you really believe in what you are saying. Don’t bore people with the greatest thing in the world.
10. Speak loudly and clearly, in a relaxed tone of voice.
11. Smile often. A smile tells a person, “I like you,” and “You’re worth smiling at.” Ask the Lord to give you a happy, radiant face. Eph. 4:15.
12. Avoid mannerisms when you speak, such as: rubbing your nose, playing with your ring, jingling coins in your pocket.
13. Feature Christ, and not yourself.
14. Have a good appearance: clean, good posture, smell good. Be full of life.

Salvation in a testimony:

1. Tell the circumstances involved in your salvation.
2. Spell out exactly what salvation is. Be clear and simple.
Think: Could a person be saved by hearing that testimony alone?
3. As a general rule, it is good to quote at least one clear salvation verse, and no more than two. Acts 2:38; John 3:5
4. Always distinguish between salvation and service, Christ and religion. You cannot earn your way to heaven by good works.
5. Remember the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Rom. 1:16. Rely on His Word and the Holy Spirit.

Don’ts

1. Don’t use Christian jargon. Words such as “born again,” “convicted,” “converted,” do not communicate truth to the average non-Christian.
2. Don’t preach– Do talk, share something of value.
3. Don’t tear down. Be positive!
4. Don’t let your testimony drag on. When you have finished, you can stop. Don’t keep talking just to talk.
5. Don’t apologize. This gives the person or audience lack of confidence.
6. Don’t mention church denominations, especially in a derogatory way.
7. Don’t speak critically or negatively about any other individual or group. You are here to talk about Christ and try to lead a person to a saving knowledge of Christ.
8. Don’t give the impression that the Christian life is a “bed of roses.” Some people are told that when they give their life to Christ, that all of their problems will be solved and life will be a complete joy for the rest of their lives. If you have been a Christian for very long, you know that you will still have problems.
9. Don’t give a bragamony.

From: www.makeitclearnow.org web site. April 2015.

The above article, “How to Give Your Personal Testimony” was written by Tommy Klineey. The article was excerpted from www.makeitclearnow.org
The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”