Valentine’s Day Speaking Tips for Writers

by Yvonne Ortega @YvonneOrtega1

Whether you’ve never married, are married, divorced, or widowed, Valentine’s Day with the Lord can be a fabulous speaking day for writers. For the never married, divorced, or widowed writers, it can also be a painful day. 

You and I can use the Valentine’s Day speaking tips as a springboard for virtual or live events. As much as possible, we can include God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in our Valentine’s Day plans. If you have a spouse, children, in-laws, or grandchildren in the home, you can still celebrate with God and invite them to join you. Whether they accept the invitation is up to them.

First, tell God that you love him.

As soon as I open my eyes on Valentine’s Day, I say, “God, I love you. You are my special Valentine today and every day.” 

Since I’m not a morning person, I set the table the night before to make it easier. At breakfast on Valentine’s Day, I say, “God, I love you and this is why:”

• “[I] love you because [you] first loved [me]” (1 John 4:19 KJV). 
• “For [I am] [your] handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which [you,] God prepared in advance for [me] to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). You prepared me to speak, write, coach, and mentor in your name.
• “People look at the outward appearance, but [you,] Lord [look] at the heart” (I Samuel 16:7e–f NIV). You knew I’d never become Miss America or Miss Universe, but you chose me anyway. You knew I would speak for you on radio, television, other online media, and at live events.

If you have children or grandchildren at home, you can help them express their love for God.

• Have a brief family devotional time with the children.
• Talk to them about a Bible verse, such as “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8 NIV).
• Memorize that Bible verse together.
• You may be encouraging a budding writer or artist.

Second, sing aloud to the Lord.

I let my creativity flow as I make up my own love songs to sing to the Lord from the Psalms. I take songs from movies and address them to God. I also sing contemporary and traditional songs to the Lord. For example:

• From the movie “Sister Act 2,” I sing “Oh Happy Day.” 
• I found “Unending Love” from the Hillsong Worship album “God Is Able” and the traditional hymn, “My Jesus I Love Thee” sung by Darlene Zschech, on youtube.com
• “Welcome Holy Spirit” with lyrics, also on youtube.com, may take you on a mountaintop in the presence of the Lord.

You and your young children or grandchildren can sing “This Little Light of Mine” and “I’m in the Lord’s Army,” for which you can find music and lyrics on youtube.com 

If you have teenagers, they may prefer to gather with their friends or the youth group on Valentine’s Day. 

Third, journal about the speaking ideas God gave you during this experience.

As you spend Valentine’s Day with the Trinity, God may fill you to overflowing with ideas for a keynote speech, a live or online workshop, a podcast, or an interview. 

If you have young children at home and struggle to find time for yourself, plan ahead to find crafts, puzzles, or other free resources online for them. You can keep the children engaged, while you journal. Perhaps you can find a free online movie about God’s love to show them, such as Veggie Tales “God Loves You Very Much.”

Remember that you have a Valentine in heaven, and he’s waiting to hear from you. Feel free to share your Valentine’s Day speaking tips for writers with me.

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Yvonne’s background as a licensed professional counselor brings a unique perspective into the heart of women. She’s a speaking and writing coach and the owner of Moving from Broken to Beautiful®, LLC. She belongs to the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, the Christian Authors Network, the National Speakers Association, and Toastmasters International.

She celebrates life at the beach, where she walks, builds sand castles, blows bubbles, and dances.