Quotes from Grant Wacker

Graham spoke plainly and directly. Convinced that the average person had a working vocabulary of six hundred words, he made a point to stick with common words and short sentences. Though he never put it exactly this way, he instinctively grasped the import of Sister Aimee Semple McPherson's recipe for rabbit stew: first "you have to catch the rabbit.

He started reading local papers six months before he got to town and arranged regular breakfast meetings for local pastors.

Graham committed himself to an hour of prayer and Bible study each day after breakfast. He began with five chapters of Psalms, he claimed, to know how to get along with God, and one chapter of Proverbs to know how to get along with other people. That way he read each book through once a month.

Equally important was the approach of the advertising, which can be summarized with a single word: "minimalist." "Billy Graham, Harringay Arena, 7: 30 Every Night." Or "Hear Billy Graham." Or just "Billy Graham," with his photo. Crusade organizers took a cue from advertisements for Cadillacs in the United States. They gave just enough information to arouse curiosity, implying that the product was so desirable it sold itself.

Though he had professed Christian faith and tried to live a Christian life as far back as he could remember, he had never clearly repented of his sins and given his heart to Christ in a direct, personal way. Even so, it was a tearless conversion. The next day, he remembered, he felt no different inside. But the world looked different outside.

If in Los Angeles in 1949 he had preached "fast and loud," by the time he got to New York in 1957 he had learned to dial down the speed and let the microphone do the heavy lifting.

The preacher's voice, a timbered baritone, sounded remarkably like that of a professional newscaster. It proved crisp enough to capture attention yet mellow enough to feel inviting.

Much of the advertising focused on Graham's name and image. He appreciated the power of repetition. He once remarked that the quality of the words and colors on a billboard was less important than the number of billboards a motorist passed.