Your church presentation ties the entire service together. If handled correctly, it moves the service from one element to the next by offering seamless transitions. This keeps the congregation focused and moving in the same direction. Using presentations during the sermon provides another avenue for information to make an impact on people’s lives. They’re not just hearing the word, they get to read along and visually connect to the most crucial parts of the message. Studies show that people retain more information when they’re able to see it as well as hearing it.
The key to a good presentation
The presentation should serve as an almost invisible tour guide that leads you through the proceedings pointing out areas of interest. You know you have a great presentation when no one is thinking about the presentation. Their attention is being drawn toward God and his Word. The moment that you’ve drawn attention to the presentation itself, it’s usually because people are being distracted by an overbearing element or some kind of mistake. When you’re putting together a presentation, your ultimate goal is to facilitate worship and weed out distractions. Creating presentations that move the sermon along without getting in the way requires things like:
Planning
Preparation
Teamwork
Communication
It doesn’t just happen on accident! You need to constantly learn and discover new ways to create and execute your church presentations with excellence. We figure you shouldn’t have to learn it all by trial and error. So we asked more than 5,000 pastors, worship leaders, and tech teams to give us their top tips, tricks, and hacks to creating and managing their presentations. Here are some the best responses we received.
First things first
1. “Pray for guidance, support, and inspiration.”—Mary, Grace and Peace Lutheran Church
It’s important for the tech team to see themselves as a ministry first. This will help them remember that there aren’t any unspiritual tasks. Creating a script for Sunday morning’s presentation is just as spiritually significant as any other task. It should be bathed in prayer and approached as a sacred responsibility.
Do your research
2. “Know the compatibilities for your church’s hardware and programs and work from within that understanding.”—John, First Baptist Church
This is good advice for anyone using software or hardware. I’m always surprised when churches are using expensive programs or equipment, but are only using the smallest percentage of its capabilities. So bust out those manuals and play those training videos. You might be surprised at some of the things you didn’t know you were able to do—and the time and money you save.
3. “Do the research needed to ensure that equipment like projectors works in your space. You need to know what the maximum distance from the screen is. You need to know what formats the projector will accept. Invest in the highest quality cables you can. Recognize the difference between infrastructure and replaceables. If you have a cable run that is nearly impossible, you really want to make sure that when you pull those cables, that you won’t be doing it again soon. Five to ten years would be a good time frame. It is also a good plan to stay with tested technology.”—Anthony, Zion Grace UMC
Anthony’s right; there is no substitute for doing your research. It’s important that you’re thinking long term when it comes to making decisions about equipment purchases. If you need to invest in a professional to come in to advise you on what you need now and what’s going to be the most cost efficient, long term investment, it’s worth it! In the long run, too many churches end up spending extra dollars in order to save a couple dimes.
4. “Do you know of other churches in your area who are using similar equipment and software? Ask if you can send someone to see how they use it.”—Anonymous
Believe it or not, most church tech teams would be happy to show you how they’re managing their equipment. Not only is this an opportunity to discover tricks and systems you’ve never thought of, but it can also go a long way towards building relationships between local churches. Make sure you’re opening your church up to others as well.
5. “Maintain a spare supply of necessary items, (batteries, remote controls, bulbs for projectors, tie wraps, extension cords—items you don’t think of until you need them).”—Stan, Valley Baptist Church
Put someone in charge of maintaining a list of all the items the tech team needs, and then make sure that you have back-ups for those items. It’s amazing the chaos that can ensue for want of a 9-volt battery! Go to the free download.
Building a good team
6. “Don’t assume that because a person is young, they automatically are knowledgeable and interested in being on a tech team.”—Micah, Living Branch Lutheran Church
Micah’s right. Don’t profile!
7. “‘Teching’ during worship services is a volunteer position that can attract people who otherwise don’t volunteer for much, since it can seem less intimidating.”—Micah, Living Branch Lutheran Church
I have led worship for nearly 25 years, and I have found the tech team to be a haven time and time again for super intelligent and introverted people who really want to serve the church but are unsure about where they fit. So many other ministries require volunteers to be the center of attention if they’re going to exercise thought and responsibility. Presentation tech is different: it’s a huge responsibility, but not a lot of attention. I’ve watched people get brought onto church tech teams and discover their passion for the church explode.
8. “Take the time to practice using all the features of the software that your tech team uses. During a worship service should not be the only time a tech team member uses the church hardware/software.”—Darwin, Jericho Ridge Community Church
9. “Train your volunteers how to fix script errors – in lyrics, bible verses, readings, etc.”—Jane
Training needs to include regular supervised practice taking care of all of the tech team’s tasks. Your volunteers should know how to put together presentations, how to edit them, and how to take care of potential problems. They need to see troubleshooting happening in a real-time environment. The more exposure they get to the software—especially in a safe, controlled but live environment—the more confident they’ll be.
10. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help.”—Sharmyn
One of the best ways to get the most out of your church’s presentation tools is to ask the vendor for help directly. You’ll learn how to overcome obstacles, and you’ll get a feel for how the providers are thinking about your church’s presentations. Shameless plug: MediaShout prides itself on providing the very best support, when you need it most. To that end, we’re one of the only church presentation software companies with live support on Sundays when it’s most critical. Jump to the free download.
Be mindful of your congregation
11. “The biggest challenge is having an ‘inclusive’ worship experience where most people are comfortable, and accepting of the whole worship experience. Media presentations must be tasteful, and assist the flow of the worship experience with smooth transitions. Catering to one segment of worshipers in media style, while excluding others, or catering to a select group will cause more problems. Be tasteful, and include media in a way that enhances the experience, not in a way that draws attention to itself.”—Alan, First Baptist Church, Anderson
12. “Remember, this isn’t entertainment. You want to enhance and not overpower or distract from the service.”—Mary, Grace and Peace Lutheran Church
We’ve come a long way since the days of the static PowerPoint presentation. But we need to always remember that the presentation serves the saints. Make sure your animations and transitions are used tastefully and aren’t distracting from the service.
13. “Just about every hymn we sing is already in our hymnals so initially we saw no need to put the lyrics on the screens. After we tried it a couple times we got a very positive response from some of the elderly members of the congregation. It turns out they won’t admit that they need reading glasses to read the hymnals (or worship programs) but they can still see things in the distance (like our LCD monitors). So the point is you should put everything on the screens that people need to read.”—Kirby, Asbury United Methodist Church
14. “Become familiar to your congregations likes and dislikes in presentations.”—Kenny, First Baptist Church, Gordonsville
When you’re working on your presentations, think about how your choices affect the people you serve. Is your background image too loud? Is your font readable everywhere in the sanctuary? Does your slide have too many words on it? It’s decisions like this that can greatly affect your church’s worship experience. Jump to the free download.
Prioritize communication between the pastor and tech team
15. “Give the operator plenty of time to build the script. Waiting until the last minute to give them your notes and other items only frustrates the operators. They should want it to look smooth and professional, and this is hard to accomplish in a rush.”—Chris, West Ward Church of God
16. “[Pastors] Make sure to include your media team when you are making changes to the order. Watch the slides and stop and give direction directly to the person running the slides so that they can make notes or take time after practice to make changes with them.”—Patti, The Bridge, Stockton
17. “Our pastor writes up a transcript every week and follows along pretty closely to it. I have him highlight the areas in his teaching that are slides to be fired so my volunteers can easily see what’s coming up next. Then I encourage my pastor that if he feels led to go ‘off script’ then make sure he references the next slide he wants clearly.”—Mikey, The Jar Community Church
18. “Nothing says ‘lack of unity’ like a disjointed worship service, but that is easily avoided by making sure that the focus and tone of your messages are accurately conveyed to everyone involved in planning the service. Drive success by leading your teams in the direction which God leads you.”—Greg, Crossroads Church of Cleburne
Pastors, there was a time when you could do your Sunday sermon prep in a vacuum. But it’s getting harder and harder to get away with putting sermons together at the last minute. The truth is that a lot of what passes for “waiting for inspiration” is simply procrastination. As you’re putting your sermons together, open another document and take notes relating to the presentation. The more clearly you can communicate your intentions, the better it is for everyone. Get that information to your tech team as early as possible so that they have time to put together the best presentation possible. Ultimately, it’s going to make your sermon even better.
19. “[Pastors] Stuff happens that’s outside the tech team’s control. If you know it’s going on, so does the congregation. Don’t draw a lot of attention to it, and allow the tech team to work it out.”—Anonymous
I have to admit that this one made me laugh. We’ve all seen this one happen a million times. As soon as there’s a problem with the sound or presentation, no matter who’s fault it is, everyone starts looking at the tech booth. Don’t worry—THEY KNOW! If you’re on the stage and run into a technical difficulty, give it some time for the tech team to work it out before you stop everything and draw attention to it.
20. “[When getting all the service information] Ask questions. Who, what, when, where, why – it works in journalism, and it works in planning a service.”—Jane
You can’t always count on everyone to get you all the information you need to put the presentation together. So make sure you’re actively, and not passively, looking at the information you receive. Ask questions about how it’s going to come together and where the transitions are. If you ask good enough questions, you can usually draw out any of the missing information.
21. “[Pastors] Support your media team’s vision. It’s their passion and calling, and their vision needs to be taken seriously.”—David, Bridge of Life Community Church
The tech team is a legitimate ministry that facilitates the entire worship service. It’s critical that they’re empowered to create a vision for spiritual and operational success—and that their vision is supported by leadership. Jump to the free download.
Working with the worship team
22. “The presentation team needs to have a good relationship with the worship team and leaders.”—Anthony, Zion Grace UMC
23. “Presentation operators should consider themselves part of the Worship Team. Just like the guitar player practices their part before rehearsing with the whole group, the presentation operator should do the same—listen to music, understand the differences in verses and choruses, and know how their ‘instrument’ is part of the overall worship.” —Aaron, Thompson Station Church-Columbia
24. “Have your media/PC team attend Praise & Worship practice! This will help with a smooth presentation.”—Patrick, Salvation Army San Diego Citadel
25. “When it comes to songs, I think it’s a good idea to have your media volunteers listen to the worship songs being played so they know how fast the words are sung, they can hear some of the transitions in the song which can give them a heads up if the worship leader is changing up the order of the song. I also think it’s a great idea if possible to have the media volunteers run through the songs during worship practice.”—Mikey, The Jar Community Church
The team creating and managing the presentations needs to work synergistically with all of the ministry teams in order to create the best service possible. But their success is probably most closely linked to how integrated they are in the worship team. Their understanding of the worship music, the worship leader’s leadership style, and the team’s
Check Out 25 Church Presentations Tips, Tricks & Hacks (Part Two)
