meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Y Religion

Episode 2: Knowing Your Audience (Emily Belle Freeman & Brad Wilcox)

Y Religion

BYU Religious Education

Whyreligion, Religiouseducation, Religion & Spirituality, Brighamyoung, Lds, Education, Mormon, Yreligion, Byu, Religion, Yreligionpodcast, Christianity, Churchofjesuschrist

4.81.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How do you prepare and adjust a message to connect with those you are leading? What methods can teachers—from all backgrounds and experiences—use when preparing for different teaching moments? In this episode, sister Emily Belle Freeman and Professor Brad Wilcox discuss tips on knowing and connecting with your audience when preparing and leading lessons.

Y Religion Presents: Gospel Teaching is a limited series podcast where, each week during summer 2025, expert teachers share insights that highlight key principles and practices of effective gospel teaching.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello and welcome to gospel teaching. I'm your host, Casey Paul Griffiths.

0:05.2

You know, early on in my teaching career, I ran into a bit of a dilemma. I was still a student at

0:11.0

Brigham Young University and I had two jobs. I was teaching at the missionary training center

0:15.6

in Provo, and I was hired as a student teacher for seminaries and institutes. So every morning, I went to Pleasant Grove Seminary and taught a group of students who were between 15 and 18 years old.

0:26.6

Then in the evenings, I went to the MTC and taught a district of missionaries.

0:30.6

I bounced back and forth between teaching high school and teaching missionaries,

0:34.6

and I began to run into some challenges because these are two very, very different audiences.

0:41.3

My missionaries were eager, overwhelmed with the responsibilities of being a missionary,

0:46.3

and desperate to know what and how they could do to teach people the gospel.

0:52.3

My high school students were a lot less eager, a lot less

0:55.7

focused, and a little bit of a tougher crowd, to say the least. I soon found that what worked

1:00.8

with my missionaries didn't work with my high school students. And this wasn't because one group

1:05.4

or another was better or worse. They were just different. My MTC classes were ready to go as soon as I walked into the

1:12.3

room. With my high school classes, it took me a couple of weeks, but I started to learn that they

1:17.8

had a lot to offer too. I just needed to know them. Eventually, I learned to love both of them,

1:23.8

my missionaries and my high school students, and to meet them where they were at.

1:28.3

Now, today we have two experts to join us who've spoken to a variety of audiences.

1:33.3

They are both gifted teachers in the classroom, but they also work with large audiences,

1:38.2

even including the entire church in general conference.

1:41.8

Emily Bell Freeman and Brad Wilcox will give us a few tips on how to know your audience.

1:47.0

That's the topic on this episode of Gospel Teaching.

1:55.0

Every disciple of Christ is a teacher.

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 16 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BYU Religious Education, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BYU Religious Education and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.