This is what the Featured Post widget looks like straight from the box.
How to Configure the Featured Post widget
Drag a Featured Post widget over to your sidebar. Or, depending on your theme, to a Footer. You may have a Theme which asks you to place the Featured Post in another location – wherever it’s placed, the configuration is the same
1. Change the title to whatever you want
2. Choose the category you want
3. Choose the number of posts to show
4. If you’re using a gravatar (not necessary) you can align it here
5. Choose to show or not show the featured image. Choose the size. Choose the alignment
6. Choose to show, or not show, the post title
7. Choose to show, or not show, the post info
8. Choose how much, if any, of the content you want to show
9. Choose to show, or not show, the category archive link. You can rename this link
10. Save
Try the variations out, sometimes the featured post can show content of 150 characters, or 50 characters. Or more – or less. Try different image alignments. Choose which best suits your site. It takes a bit of experimenting to achieve the result that you personally want.