The worship leader prayed just as the church service began, "Lord, thank you for today. Your grace carries us. We're so grateful for your presence. Today we ask that you'd send your spirit to guide us and minister to our... uh, um, uh to our spirits." Not his most eloquent conversation with God. It was a little redundant and careless.
Afterwards, he would have been lying to say he wasn't embarrassed. But what was worse was that his fumbling near the end distracted the whole church. Suddenly, everyone was thinking about the uncertainty of his prayer, rather than the content of the service.
Whether you preach, teach or lead music in a church, the quality of your communication from the stage is crucial. You can't afford to wing it. When people come to your church, they’re trusting you with their time, which is incredibly valuable. It doesn't matter whether you're praying, introducing a new song, asking people to fill out connection cards, or telling them about next month's pot-luck. They deserve your most well thought out words.
As you plan for communication at your church, here are a few strategies to help you make the most out of your words and their time.
1. Write ‘til it’s right. I know a lot of presenters who are drafters. They’ll create a draft of what they want to say, and then simply refine it until they’ve got it just how they want it. There’s a pastor at my church who uses this method. Then he simply reads his transcript as he preaches.
There are some communicators who don’t like transcripts. They feel like they make the presentation seem unnatural. But I also know some pastors who use transcripts and seem very natural. The important thing is to do what works for you. And if you don’t like transcripts, you may think about beginning by using transcripts, and then ditch them once you’ve got some experience and proficiency.
2. Tell nobody! I do this any time I preach. I’ll draft up a rough transcript of what I’m going to say on my phone. Then I’ll go into the auditorium and preach to the empty room. As I work through the sermon, I’ll rewrite each part until I have it just how I want it.
I know a few other presenters, who are not preachers, which use this method. One is a Live Welcome Person. Before he greets people at our church on Sunday morning, he’ll sequester my office and practice his welcome over and over. He’s not a preacher or a worship leader, but he takes his job seriously.
3. You critique what you sow. If you want to get better at presenting, you have to watch yourself. If you are able to secure video of yourself in front of a crowd, watch it and learn from what you see.
Most people don’t like seeing themselves on camera, if you’re one of them, I’ve got some great advice for you: get over it. Your insecurity won’t do a single thing to make you a better communicator. The more you watch yourself, the more you’ll get over that sick feeling you get when you see yourself on stage. Then as you learn, you might even begin to appreciate what you see in yourself.
4. Hook up to whom you look up. Get connected to the styles of your favorite presenters. I remember seeing Aaron Keys lead worship at a conference a couple years back. Everything he said was clear, concise and well thought out. The result was that people connected with God in a deeper and more significant way. And, nearly two years later, I can still remember what he said.
The goal of connecting with the styles of people you look up to is not to copy everything they do. The goal is to find those people who inspire you to be the best version of who you are, and let that inspiration drive you to be the best you can be.
I remember the church service where that worship leader stumbled over his words. I was sitting next to a regular attender who invited me. At that point she leaned over, and almost apologetically said, “Some days he’s on, and other days…”
As people from your church consider inviting their friends, you’ll want to be the type of communicator they can count on. So as you prepare to speak to your church family, put in the effort to give them the very best you have to offer.
These suggestions are right on target. Another observation: The best presenters in the world, whether in ministry or not, do much of what you suggest. They practice their delivery. The other great news here is that the more you present, the more fulfilling it is, and the better you get at it.
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