In this important book, 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 deliver 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 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.