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Published in 2001, this book has sold more than 15,000 copies, and has become a
force in changing the way that numerous preachers do their work, not only in the
United States but in several other countries as well.

Here is what the publisher's reviewer said about the book:

"In this important book, Joseph Webb makes two central claims. First, that
effective preaching without a manuscript is not a matter of talent as much as it is a
matter of preparation. Preachers can learn the practices and disciplines that make
it possible to delivery articulate, thoughtfully crafted sermons, not from a written
page, but as a natural, spontaneous act of oral communication. Throughout the
book, the author offers specific examples of what he is talking about, including a
transcript of a sermon preached without manuscript or notes. Second, that the
payoff of learning to preach without a manuscript is nothing less than sermons that
more effectively and engagingly give witness to the Good News."

Here is what the reading reviewers of Preaching Without Notes said about it:

Fred B. Craddock, perhaps the best-known and respected contemporary American
preacher:

"Finally, after fifty years, someone again attends to this important subject. What
better time than now, when so many enter preaching classes without training in
public speaking. Who better to instruct than Joe Webb, who brings to the task
impressive credentials in both speech communication and rhetoric. It is worth the
price of the book to be reminded that preaching without notes is not simply a
method of delivery but a method of preparation. Without the appropriate
preparation, preaching without notes is either undisciplined talking or strained
reciting. Hooray for Joe Webb!"

James W. Cox, Senior Professor of Preaching at Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary:

"I have read Joseph Webb's Preaching Without Notes with interest. I wish every
student minister and every pastor would read this challenging, encouraging,
practical book-it could make the difference between an ordinary ministry and a
highly effective ministry! Step-by-step, the author shows how preachers can find
new joy and success in the preparation and delivery of sermons. Preaching without
notes is not so difficult to learn as some might imagine, and the immediate and
long-term rewards are worth the effort. Joseph Webb shows clearly how to do what
those who listen to our sermons prefer."

Joan Delaphane, O.P., Professor of Homiletics at the Aquinas Institute of
Theology in St. Louis:

"This book is grounded in good communication theory, conversational in tone,
concrete and practical in application. It is a long-awaited, much needed resource to
empower more effective preaching today."

Richard A. Jensen, Professor of Homiletics at the Lutheran School of Theology in
Chicago:

"Dr. Joseph Webb makes a persuasive case for preachers to break loose from the
shackles of manuscript preaching. He provides homiletical practitioners with very
concrete, detailed, and practical suggestions to guide us in the task. Dr. Webb is
surely correct in his assumption that such preaching is demanded in an age when
mass communication has shaped the perception of our hearers."

David J. Schlafer, respected homiletician, author, and consultant on preaching:

"Significant communications among trusted friends are seldom delivered by means
of manuscripts, so why must preaching be delivered this way? Joe Webb shows us
here-skillfully and simply-that good preaching need not be hostage to a written
text. Skeptical (perhaps intimidated?) preachers will discover how their sermons
can be transformed from reports about religion to Spirit-ed conversations."

Donald H. Treese, formerly of the General Board of Higher Education and
Ministry of the United Methodist Church:

"This book answers a real need among clergy as well as the prayer of many in the
pew for renewal in the pulpit. Dr. Webb applies modern research regarding
memory skills to one of the long-neglected aspects of preaching: delivery. He
weaves together theory and practice to create a rare little volume that is fresh,
relevant, and persuasive."

Eugene L. Lowry, well-known homiletician and author, now retired from the St.
Paul School of Theology in Kansas City:

"In a day when the world is moving toward multiple forms of orality while the
church still clings to literality, Joseph Webb's Preaching Without Notes is timely
indeed. Although our views on preaching are considerable different, our
commitment to preaching without the overwhelming impediment of notes is the
same. Whatever your views of preaching, his advice and strategies will gladden the
hearts of your congregation."

Here is a brief excerpt from the book's Introduction:

"Some homileticians and preachers believe that the true power of public address
lies not in passion but in words, in poetic, picturesque language. This, in fact, is
often given as a reason why one must carefully write out and then read the written
sermon to one's congregants. Every word in it must be carefully chosen, evoking
just the right images and sensations, and then those words, once chosen, must be
carefully read aloud from the pulpit so that the evocations of the language can be
experienced again among those who share the words.

"There is no denying the importance of words, their evocative power, their poetic
creation of imagery. Speaking well includes knowing how to choose one's language;
it includes knowing the sensuality of words and phrases, and being able to create
original and provocative pictures with one's speech. That is still the surface of
effective public address, however. Research has taught us that the most effective
public speech is only secondarily about words, about language. Invariably, what
people listen to and for in public address are not the words themselves, not even
the images conjured up by the words as they are spoken. What they watch for and
are most sensitive to are the feelings, the emotions, out of which the words that are
spoken arise. They listen for what is behind and under the words.

"When a speaker demonstrates that he or she feels deeply, even intensely, about
the subject being talked about, and gives voice to those passionate ideas and
feelings, then the words invariably will be the right words, whether they are poetic
or not. They will be spoken not because they are the right words or because they
are particularly vivid or poetic, but because they are the only words capable of
expressing, at that moment, the deepest stirrings of the speaker. Because of that,
those nonpoetic, unplanned words will often become poetic in the speaking.

"It may seem that in placing the emphasis on the preacher's underlying passion
rather than on the words of the sermon the result will be an anti-intellectual
experience-satisfying only at some emotional level. Exactly the opposite, however,
is the case. Even though some sermons preached without notes certainly can be all
emotion and no intellectual substance-something quite unacceptable-that is not
the case with good preaching sans manuscript and notes. On the contrary; good
preaching without manuscript or notes can be one of the richest intellectual
activities that one can experience. Even though everything is well prepared, the
preacher stands in front of people literally thinking out loud. The ideas have been
worked through, both consciously and unconsciously; but even after the ideas have
been outlined and memorized, they are refined and rethought right up to and even
through the course of the sermon's delivery. Moreover, as preachers without notes
have known for a long time, when one has prepared well, some of the best and
more inspiring ideas that one ends up articulating can come to the preacher's mind
in the heat of the speaking itself. It is not that the sermon preached without notes
is either intellect or emotion. Instead, it can be, and often is, the sermon that best
blends the two dimensions together. And, in the end, it is that remarkable blend
that achieves the highest level of bonding between preacher and a roomful of
congregants."