I have posted about Chris Jordan and his picture's before. Chris Jordan's pictures communicate more powerfully than words can often describe. Recently Chris Jordan presented at TED Talks in January. His talk was just posted on the TED's website - you can watch it below. Chris' combination of art and social lessons is a great way for us visual learners (that's at least 60% of us) to get a new perspective on excess.I think what Chris has been able to accomplish with his art, is a helpful example to those of us who communicate often. Certainly words are powerful and persuasive, but at times words can't evoke the kind of emotion and feelings that a picture can. Watch the video, you'll see what I mean.Go here for more information on TEDTalks
For more of Chris Jordan's Art go to his website: Chris Jordan's Photography Website.
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Have you experienced the weird atmosphere which comes after a funny story you’ve cracked fell flat on your audience?
Or, do you have the belief that you are, simply, not funny at all?
Even the most confident speakers may falter when it comes to the skill of injecting humor adequately in their speeches. Not to worry,though, as this entry aims to offer several tips which, I hope, will guide you in adding just the right dosage of humor in the right moment so as to make your stories or punchlines work.
As the cliché saying goes, laughter is the best medicine and people today are drawn towards humor like bees to honey simply because cynicism has been ingrained in today’s culture. Thus the value-add of humor in public speaking. While, this may be the case, a lot of people out there find themselves lacking the skill sets to pull off punch lines effectively and effortlessly.
Though humor is commonly believed to be an elusive art to master, I think otherwise.
How can I avoid a humor debacle?
The great comic Jim Mendrinos once shared,
“In order to be funny, you got to first know what makes you laugh as this will give you obvious clues to what makes other people laugh.”
This means that you have to know what form of humor works for you, and what does not! Different people find different things funny and these are all common elements in your everyday life, be it in everyday conversations, quotes, books etc. Humor is ubiquitous in life!
There are many forms of humor, ranging from normal banter to exaggeration techniques.
Hence, make an effort to build a humor bank!
It will be great to start off by observing yourself and the people around you. Jot down the comical instances which occur – there has to be noteworthy ones each day! You will never know when these instances will come in handy as ammunition for your speeches. Also, be willing to watch stand up comics. Not because you are trying to be a stand up comedian when you speak - that would be inappropriate. Rather, you can see how their use timing, intonation and facial expressions to deliver humor.
On the day of your speech, get to know the audience!
As Scott Friedman of Advanced Public Speaking Institute suggests,
Understand the dynamics of the audience, as this will make it easier for you to relate to them through your language, tone and the framework of your speech. As mentioned above, different people find different things funny. So, knowing your audience allows you to cater your humor to the intended group in mind properly – chances are that knock-knock jokes are unlikely to work for adults as opposed to primary school children!
Also, be sure to know the intention of the speech and what you intend for the audience to get out of listening to you. Time is a precious commodity these days, and implanting suggestive and timely, yet relevant humor, will be a very effective way to make your speech more memorable without having to drone on and on with examples.
Establish and maneuver your speech around this purpose, bearing in mind what works for you, as well as the target audience, in creating your stories or punch lines.
There are also potholes to avoid, so do not step into them!
1. Don’t use recycled jokes and stories, the faux pas of public speaking. As you have probably experienced this yourself while listening to speeches before, hearing familiar stories countless times before are bound to elicit groans instead of laughs.
2. Don’t laugh at your own jokes while reciting it — self-control is important! The best way to pull off a punch line is always with a straight face. This will catch the audience off guard and intensify the humorous effect.
3. Don’t give the audience too little time to savor your punch line. Let them digest and laugh before you move on! This will allow the audience to catch the subsequent stories after that.
4. Don’t ever explain your jokes or punch lines! If the audience fail to get the joke, move on. Explaining the joke will not help matters, especially when the funny moment did not, have not, and will not come. To lighten the tense mood at this instant, though, some self-effacing humor may work. (read the rest HERE)
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This is a great post on the power of telling a story. It uses the contrast of two leaders during the Civil War - Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln, to illustrate the power of story. According to Mike's post, it was "story" that won the day in the war. Story is powerful. Often times in religious and ministry circles, we can have the tendency to communicate in abstractions, but it is story that communicates most effectively.
Here are Mike Metzger's thoughts on this subject. And as usual, he hits a home run.
When you think of the American Civil War, what tipped the scales toward the North? Did they have better generals? Not if the names McDowell, McClellan, Burnside, and Hooker mean anything to you. Did the North display better tactics? Not if you’re familiar with Bull Run, the Seven Days battle, and Fredericksburg. In fact, the South probably enjoyed better soldiers, field commanders and armaments. What tipped the scales toward the North is the same thing that often tips an enemy toward becoming a friend.
In an essay on the reasons for Confederate defeat in the Civil War, southern historian David M. Potter made a striking assertion: “If the Union and Confederacy had exchanged presidents with one another, the Confederacy might have won its independence.” How’s that? Jefferson Davis had received one of the finest educations of his day attending colleges in Kentucky and Mississippi, including Transylvania University, considered one of the best colleges west of the Appalachians. Davis had graduated from West Point and had received excellent training in rhetoric, logic, literature, and science.
Abraham Lincoln on the other hand was a self-taught man who reconnoitered he had about one year of formal schooling under his belt. He had mastered only a handful of books, including his favorites the King James Bible, Aesop’s Fables, Pilgrim’s Progress, and Shakespeare’s plays. How would swapping these two men have tipped the scales?
For all his schooling, Jefferson Davis “seemed to think in abstractions and to speak in platitudes.” Lincoln’s education had been reading stories rich in figurative language and metaphors. He was a storyteller. Davis postulated propositions while Lincoln painted pictures. Davis was analysis; Lincoln was anecdote. Potter says Lincoln’s stories tipped the scales in favor of the north.
The need for stories was never more evident than after the Battle of Gettysburg, the tipping point of the Civil War. The organizing committee for the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg invited the erudite Edward Everett to give the main speech but he told the committee he would be unable to prepare an appropriate oration in such short order and requested postponing the date. The committee agreed and the dedication was reset for November 19. Almost as an afterthought, David Wills, the president of the committee, asked President Abraham Lincoln to make a “few appropriate remarks.” Everett gave a two-hour speech. Lincoln spoke for two minutes but reframed the story of Gettysburg. He used three parallel sets of images that were interwoven. Do you see them? They are past, present, future; continent, nation, battlefield; and birth, death, rebirth. He reframed enemies fighting to the death as a nation being born again.
Jonathan Swift said it is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he has never reasoned into. Lincoln intuitively knew this. Francis Carpenter, the artist who spent six months at the White House during 1864 painting a picture of Lincoln and his cabinet, noted that the president’s “most powerful thought almost invariably took on the form of a figure of speech, which drove the point home, and clinched it, as few abstract reasoners are able to do.”
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How do you make a message or an idea memorable? How do you help your church or group remember what you say? For our church, communication is one of the most challenging aspects of ministry. In a culture with thousands of messages a day, it is important for the church to be able to cut through that static and make their message stick. The messages you need to communicate are varied. They come from the pulpit, are in the bulletin, travel word of mouth, and are distributed via email.
In order to more effectively communicate you got to read Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. Made to Stick is one of the best books that I have read on communication.
In order to whet your appetite, here are the basic principles of the book:
To make an idea "sticky" you got to keep it....
1. Simple: Find the Core. Determine the single most important thing. What do you want to communicate? And then keep the message basic and simple. People can't absorb or remember dozens of messages.
2. Unexpected: Get Attention. Surprise people. Break a pattern! Break people's guessing machine. Create a mystery.
3. Concrete: Help people understand and remember. Make abstraction concrete. Create mental hooks to help people grab your idea.
4. Credible: Help people believe. Use convincing details.
5. Emotional: Make people care. Appeal to their self-interest. Address the question -so what?
6. Stories: Get people to act. Stories not only tell and show people how to act, they also inspire people to act.
This book should be on your must read list for the year!
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Always remember, you will always be more self conscience than your audience when there is silence. It may seem like an eternity to you, but it never feels that way to your audience.
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As a pastor I am always communicating. Sometimes it is preaching on Sunday mornings. At other times I am leading small groups or I am communicating over coffee in a discipleship appointment. In my never humble opinion, I think that I communicate clearly. But there are times, those who listen to me, don't remember 1 hour later what I said or they simply walk away not understanding it. Whose fault is that? Theirs? NO, it's MINE!
If you buy my product but don't read the instructions, that's not your fault, it's mine. If you read a blog post and misinterpret what I said, that's my choice, not your error. If you attend my presentation and you're bored, that's my failure. If you are a student in my class and you don't learn what I'm teaching, I've let you down.
It's really easy to insist that people read the friggin manual. It's really easy to blame the user/student/prospect/customer for not trying hard, for being too stupid to get it or for not caring enough to pay attention. Sometimes (often) that might even be a valid complaint. But it's not helpful.
What's helpful is to realize that you have a choice when you communicate. You can design your products to be easy to use. You can write so your audience hears you. You can present in a place and in a way that guarantees that the people you want to listen will hear you. Most of all, you get to choose who will understand (and who won't).
In the nutshell here are THE SEVEN LAWS OF LEARNER:
LAW 1: The Law of the Learner The teacher should accept the responsibility of causing students to learn.
LAW 2: The Law of Expectation The teacher should influence students' learning by adjusting their expectations.
LAW 3: The Law of Application The teacher should stimulate life change in students by properly applying the scriptures
LAW 4: The Law of Retention The teacher should enable students to enjoy maximum mastery of the irreducible minimum.
LAW 5: The Law of Need The teacher should surface the students' real need before teaching the content.
LAW 6: The Law of Equipping The teacher should train students for a life of service and edification.
LAW 7: The Law of Revival The teacher should encourage an ongoing personal revival in students' lives.
The thrust of this book is that LEARNING is not ultimately the responsibility of the student but of the TEACHER. If a person isn't learning, don't blame the student - the teacher needs to take responsibility. This book helps a teacher learn how to excite, motivate and help students to learn.
If you are in ministry, you are teaching! Big groups, small groups or 1-to1. It doesn't matter the size - but as a teacher/communicator learn how to help your audience retain what they heard. It is your responsibility. That is the posture of a communicator.
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In a post at Provocative Church I shared that our church is going through a branding process with Metaleap. Just one of the many deliverables from the process will be a new logo for our church. Of course anyone with a computer can slap together a logo. But a logo is much more than producing eye-candy.
The article talks about the evolution of the design and what reasons and rationales went into the design of their now ubiquitous logo.
Over time the Google designer came up with a lot of different iterations of the logo,
"from a pattern that suggests the infinite to interlocking rings that symbolize the power of search to transgress cultures, from a happy magnifying glass to sheer playfulness. By taking out the magnifying glass, Kedar, the designer, opens up the logo to signify that Google can become much more than just a search engine. By playing with the angles and colors of the letters, she tries to make clear that Google isn't a square corporation."
Ruth Kedar, the designer, explains that she chose the Catull typeface because "Catull borrows elements from traditional writing instruments such as the quill and the chisel with a modern twist. Search, by nature, is an activity that requires we look into the past. Therefore Catull's historical ties seemed appropriate, as did the bridging between the old analog world and the new emerging digital era."
From the examples above it becomes obvious that the simple and cheerful Google logo hides a lot of interesting ideas and concepts. A logo isn't just something that has to look cool, but rather, embedded in the DNA of the logo's design, is the communication of the organization's ethos.
There is more to a organization's logo than meets the eye.
I look forward to seeing what this branding process for Big Creek Church will eventually produce.
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There is an interesting article in the Portland Press Herald about the power of buzz marketing especially as it applied to the movie Cloverfield.
"So how does this explain the story of the unseen monster in the near-nameless movie with unheard of actors that grossed $40 million in its opening weekend?"
There is power in a mystery. A mystery provokes curiosity and intrigue. Too often when we communicate we back up the information dump truck and give people every nitty gritty detail.
When people get too much information they tune it out. They stop listening. If you want to communicate effectively, you got tease people. Your communication has got to be salty, it has to make them thirsty.
Many people around the church have asked about these signs around the church. These signs are doing exactly what they were meant to do, encourage people to ask questions and "want" more information. There has been buzz around the church because of these signs.
Buzz creates want. It creates a want to know more. And if people want more information they are more likely to remember it.
If you want to cut through all the communication noise in our culture, you got to willing to create a little buzz.
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If you are anything like me, you enjoy the luxury of being able to think through and craft what you want to say to your audience. It is always to your advantage to be able to prepare before you speak. But you know, as well as I do, that many opportunities to speak don't often come with much or any notice. As I pastor, I am often called to stand up and speak, sometimes with no notice or warning. So how does a person effectively speak off the cuff?
From the Public Speaking Blog:
"I just came across a four-step formula created by Richard C. Borden that will teach you how to craft a powerful speech on the fly. To speakers who suck at speaking off the cuff, you will find this post God-sent."
Remember these three quick questions and one imperative to give you guidance on how to craft what you are going to say on the fly.
1. Ho hum!” (or don't be B-O-R-I-N-G!) 2. “Why bring that up?” 3. “For instance?” 4. “So what?”
More about what these points mean from the Public Speaking Blog.
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The more you speak and communicate the better you can get at doing it. But on the flip side, the more ingrained bad habits of communication can become. If you speak for a living, which I do (larger crowds, small groups and one to one), you need to always be working on your speaking skills. Maybe you video tape yourself to watch it, or record yourself to listen to, but a good communicator is always looking to improve. Here are 5 of the biggest bad habits that a communicator can have. These aren't the only habits, but these are the most egregious.
Bad Habit #1 - Reading From The Script This is also one of the top five mistakes that CEOs around the world commit. The main culprit is comfort. A script gives the speaker a false sense of security. They think that with a script, they won’t have to memorize anything. And even better, they won’t have to engage their audience since they are busy listening to him read.
Unfortunately, we all know that that’s not the case. When you read from a script, you are forced to sound monotone. You will scare the audience with your bobbing head and worse, you give people the feeling that you are reading someone else words.
So what’s the solution? Stop reading your script! But that doesn’t mean you should not have a script. In fact, I strongly recommend you to have one but it should be written like you are speaking. So instead of formal writing like “Scientists from the Harvard University have discovered that when a speaker incorporates emotive words into their speeches, they have a 90% chance of influencing the audience to their way of thinking”, you can make it more conversational like “I was just reading this scientific article and I learnt that if you use emotive words to communicate, you will have a higher chance of influencing your audience to your way of thinking… how cool is that!”
But I don’t have a very good memory, how will I be able to remember everything? Well, you don’t have to. With a clear structure, there isn’t really a need to memorize word for word. All you need to do is to remember your key points and how to flow from one point to another. This will give you room to improvise and engage the audience as well.
And if you really have to read from the script, here’s how you should do it to ensure you still engage your audience.
It’s call the See, Stop, Say approach recommended by James C Hume. author of Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln.
Here’s the rule of thumb - never ever speak when your eyes are on your script.
First, look down and take a snapshot of your script. Memorize a chunk of words. Bring your head up and then pause for a second. When you are ready, say what you have memorized in your own words. It’s a three-step process: see, stop and say. It is very important that you pause. Yes, it may be weird for you but in reality, the pause helps make your speech conversational. It also creates anticipation, which further deepen the impact.
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I have posted before on how to get a quicker response from your email, but too many times the emails that you may receive are the length of a novel, that you get so bogged down reading and responding to them. Email is an essential means for you to communicate with your staff and ministry leaders, therefore here are some tips in order to cut through those long and laborious emails.
Step 1: Determine who it’s from
The amount of attention you need to pay an email will depend mainly on who it’s from. A potential client detailing the kind of work they require will need a lot of attention. A long request for advice from someone you’ve never heard of (usually the most common kind) can be processed quickly and painlessly with the following steps.
Step 2: Scan until you can answer one question
“What is this email about?”
Most long emails are questions delivered in an extremely round-about way. They can often be broken down into two segments: 1) key questions and 2) unnecessary detail. If your email appears to fit this bill, you can move to Step 3.
Other types of long email include thanks/positive feedback, constructive criticism (or its evil twin, long angry rants).
Scan the email until you can sum up its purpose in a sentence — for example, “They’re telling me they like my portfolio and found it inspiring,” or “They hate my guts because of that post I wrote.” Then respond to the sentence you’ve defined, rather than the email as a whole.
Step 3: Look for questions
Scan a long email looking for question marks. These are specific points which require action from you. In most cases, you can ignore unnecessary detail and focus on questions. But before you focus only on the words you need, you’ll need to implement the last step.
Step 4: Find keywords
This will allow you to zero in on the issue that you need to address.
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"Good manners start with good intentions. Etiquette experts postulate that writing thank you notes increases the frequency and quality of gifts you receive. But what if you're stuck and don't know what to write? The Thank You Note Samples site covers nearly every imaginable topic to give thanks for, from acknowledging the receipt of charity donations to expressing appreciation for hospitality arrangements to thanking your potential employer for an interview. Multiple letter formats are available to add variety (especially if you're spending the night writing the same monotonous notes due to a recent wedding)....... Thank You Note Samples
Giving thanks and writing thank you notes has been ingrained in me ever since I began working with Campus Crusade for Christ. I was able to do the ministry with CCC because of the kind and generous support of many individuals and churches. And therefore it was crucial and critical to express thanks for their support. These rules and guidelines that I have adopted may seem rigid, but I think that they are important and invaluable when expressing thanks.
1. Write a thank you note within 24 hours. The longer you wait the less impact your expression of thanks will have. Immediacy is important, and if you wait longer than 24 hours, you will probably forget to write a note.
2. Handwritten notes are the best. Try to avoid the form letter type of thank you.
3. Be specific with what you giving thanks and showing your appreciation for, mention it by name. Don't say, "Thank you for your gift", rather say "Thank you for your generous gift of $25".
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“If there is a mist in the pulpit, there will be a fog in the pews?"
Excerpt from Church Marketing Sucks.....
When you preach salvation, people come to know Jesus. When you preach about loving Jesus, people become better lovers of Jesus. When you preach prosperity, people want to be prosperous.
When you preach about the second coming, people get ready. When you preach healing, people will be healed. When you preach hope, people are more hopeful. When you preach about tithing, people tithe.
What you talk about is what people are going to respond to. In other words, you get what you preach for.
This is not about communication manipulation. This is about communication transformation.
So, friends, what are you preaching for? What are you communicating for?
I think it was Howard Hendricks who said, "If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it." When you communicate you need to define your purpose. You need to be clear about your goal, or goals.
What do you want people to do?
How do you want people to think?
What do you want people to believe?
If you are not clear and defined about what you want to say, you can't expect your audience to be either.
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1. Contacting others only when you need something. 2. Not following up, or closing the loop. 3. Not returning telephone calls or email messages. 4. Foregoing basic courtesy. 5. Not listening. 6. Telling lies. 7. Spewing chronic negativity.
Some of these would seem obvious in a church, i.e. don't tell lies. But many of these aren't for a lot of church staff. Many on this list are good reminders for me, particularly number 1 and 2. I can get very task driven and only contact people when I need something, and that communicates that a person is only valuable to me only if they can do something, and that isn't a good thing to communicate. Also, with number 2, I can start strong, but then I get distracted and don't close the loop effectively, and so I need to keep my eye on that issue as well.
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Since much of what I do is public speaking in some form or another, I am always looking for good books about the subject to keep me fresh and to always be learning.
Although this book comes from a business setting, there is much application to the preaching world.
One of the quotes from Dr. Albert Mehrabian, UCLA states that:
7% of our impact is determined by the words we use.
38% of our impact is determined by our voice: how confident and comfortable we sound.
55% of our impact is determined non-verbally: our appearance, posture, gestures, and movement, eye contact and facial expressions.
Presentation is important. Now although for the preacher there is ultimate power in the Word of God and that can't be negated, a preacher's presentation style and skill is just as important as well. Koegel gets to a point about clarity and simplicity when delivering a message that can't be overstated. He says that there are three basic sections in a presentation:
Tell them what you're going to tell them (opening)
Tell them (body)
Tell them what you just told them (close)
Sounds simple enough, I just wish more speakers did this. You got to be clear, clear and clear. Your audience is asking themselves, "why should I listen?" or "how is this relevant to me?". They shouldn't have to guess what your main points are and where you plan on taking them.
Koegel has good, fundamental stuff about posture, gesture, eye contact, audience analysis and vocal variation. He covers all the basics of good presentation.
I was able to get a couple good new nuggets out of this book but mostly is reminded me of much I already knew. I don't say that to brag on myself, but rather I am bragging on the excellent training that I received one summer at the Communication Center in Ft. Collins, CO. For a whole summer, Campus Crusade for Christ trained my wife and I on communication. We learned and we practiced, practiced, and practiced. We were video taped, evaluated and personally coached. We learned everything from researching a talk, to structuring a presentation and how to deliver a talk with power and effectiveness. This was the best training that I ever received, and the lessons learned that summer have shaped me and helped me until now.
But many people have never been through a communications boot camp like that, and therefore I would say, that the Exceptional Presenter is an excellent resource. It is some of the best stuff on paper, but just like the author states, nothing replaces becoming an exceptional presenter other than practice, practice and more practice.
Below are some "money quotes" from the book that I pulled from Brand Autopsy.
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Powerpoint on Sunday morning for many churches is key element of worship. At a minimum, many churches use Powerpoint to project the song lyrics during the music. In addition many preachers use Powerpoint to help illustrate their sermon points in order to help the congregation to cement in their mind what they are communicating.
I use Powerpoint in my sermons. I often use Powerpoint to present additional scriptures in my sermon. This helps the congregation to not be constantly flipping through the Bible and missing what I am saying. Also, I use Powerpoint to project my main outline points in order to give them an additional punch as well as to post quotes (particularly if they are long). But I don’t like too much Powerpoint, because it can be too distracting for me when I preach. I want it to accent my sermon, not take away from it. Powerpoint has some use, but everything in moderation.
There has been a healthy debate within churches on the usefulness and boundaries of Powerpoint and how it either helps or detracts from a preacher's sermon. The key is that Powerpoint can have it's advantages, if it is done right.
Check out this "Powerpoint" called “Death by PowerPoint” by Alexei Kapterev. (Click on the image below to watch it.) He talks about why so many PowerPoint presentations are so bad. More importantly, he teaches you what you can do to make your presentations stand out and worth the investment.
For a contrarian view, I came across an interesting articleconcerning the detriments of Powerpoint. According to some scientists, Powerpoint may not be a very helpful way to communicate.
"Humans just don't like absorbing information verbally and visually at the same time - one or the other is fine but not both simultaneously. Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia found the brain is limited in the amount of information it can absorb - and presenting the same information in visual and verbal form - like reading from a typical Powerpoint slide - overloads this part of memory and makes absorbing information more difficult."
In light of all the debate, I do believe that Powerpoint has the potential to be an extremely helpful and powerful tool, if it is used correctly. Slapping together a presentation with Powerpoint doesn't automatically make it more compelling and memorable. Just as it takes time and attention to prepare to speak publicly, it takes the same amount of care and attention to design and prepare Powerpoint.
Make you presentations and sermons count and don't kill your audience using Powerpoint!
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I have been thinking a lot about volunteers recently, particularly since everyone in my ministry downline happens to to be volunteer. In churches, the work of ministry happens because of volunteers. Since volunteers make up 95% of the ministry workforce, the question that we need to grapple with is, how do we lead and recruit volunteers? Here are just a couple of my thoughts...feel free to comment and add your own.
1. Vision is their paycheck. A volunteer isn't motivated and driven by a paycheck (hence the label volunteer :-) ), so what gets a volunteer to step up to the plate? Vision. Vision, that is compelling and communicated often, is key for volunteers. They want to know how their service in their corner of the church fits into the overarching mosaic of the church's vision, mission and purpose. Vision not only keeps volunteers motivated but it is the essence of recruiting volunteers. You want people to join your ministry team? Share the vision. People respond more to communicating "vision" rather than just merely sharing "need".
2. You need to give people volunteering on-ramps. How do people connect with volunteering opportunities in your church? What is the process? Is it simple? Is it clear? At Big Creek Church we are working on clear and simply on-ramps giving people the opportunity to serve. (read Simple Church by Rainer - this book has been challenging us big time the last 8 months). Very often people want to serve - they just need to know how. We currently use our Taste of Big Creek (a.k.a. monthly newcomers lunch) and our Big Creek Inquirers (membership event) as two major on-ramps to help connect people with serving opportunities.
3. Volunteers need to be celebrated. It is true that most people volunteer because they want to use their gifts and make a difference. They are not overtly looking for praise and recognition, but that doesn't mean that they don't deserve it. Whether it be big, huge volunteer appreciation gatherings or simply walking in the nursery and thanking the lady who is holding a crying baby - volunteers did to be celebrated.
4. Volunteers often times will only rise to the level of your expectations. There are some volunteers who will go well beyond the call of duty, but most volunteers will serve up to the bar that you set. So set the bar high. Too often we are afraid to ask a lot from our volunteers - that is a mistake. Ask boldly, ask big! You will be surprised how motivated volunteers are willing to serve.
5. Volunteers will only work under leaders. People that are serving in your church need clear direction. You need to lead them. Make sure that you do your due diligence in planning and preparation as a leader. At the same time, don't worry if your don't have all the answers. As a leader you should concentrate about being clear with your volunteers even if you are not certain about every detail (via Andy Stanley)
6. Volunteers recruit other volunteers. One of the biggest issues for leaders is recruitment. As a leader, you have tapped into our sphere of relationships and may now feel tapped out. As a leader, you don't and shouldn't be the key recruiter. Encourage your volunteers to recruit their friends. People love to serve with their friends and they have a circle of friends and relationships that you probably don't have.
What are some of your thoughts about leading volunteers in your ministry context?
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Remembering names is one of the most important things you can do when you are meeting guests on Sunday morning. I remember reading in college, Dale Carnegie's book, How to Win friends and Influence people ( a pretty manipulative title, I know!) and it had one point that I will never forget - A person's favorite sound is hearing their own name. Using a person's name provides a point of connection. It communicates care and that they matter. We shouldn't just remember names for self-serving reasons, but because every person we meet is special, they matter to God.
But on a Sunday morning, if you are anything like me by meeting a lot of new people, it can be difficult remmebering all the people you meet.
The key to remembering names isn't all that revolutionary. Paper and pen.
A Chinese proverb says that the faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.
You can't rely on your memory. You got to keep a piece of paper, or small pad of paper, and a pen with you at all times. Just applying this simple rule, saved me at church yesterday.
Read Bob Hyatt's thoughts here about how he intentional remembers visitors names. (HT: PastorHacks)
Anyway, yesterday, we had an abundance of first-time visitors at our Sunday morning gathering...
I'm really, really bad with names. I mean, really bad.
I usually have to ask people to remind me of their names 8 or 9 times...
But yesterday, I had a stroke of brilliance, a flash of ingenuity...
I just wrote them down.
We had 7 first time visitors yesterday (not including some 4 or 5 relatives just visiting in town- I usually like to say "Hi" to them, by try not to spend too much time talking with out-of-towners). So, directly afterwards, when I got 2 seconds (all the time it took) I just wrote down their names.
In looking at the list now, I can clearly picture who each were. I'll look at it again later, but I have a feeling I now KNOW their names. This morning I even wrote a little note by each ("Came with Sean and Betsy","Went to lunch with Shawn and Laura", etc).
I'm telling you, the relief I feel at having something of a system to help remember names is incredible...
Try it and tell me how it works for you! Or do any of you have other ideas for remembering visitor names?
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In light of a previous post on communication (here) to your ministry leaders, email has certain limits to it's effectiveness. Email, by nature, doesn't DEMAND a response. People can easily ignore your email and unless they respond, you never know if and when they have actually read it. Yet this post by Michael Hyatt offers some helpful tips on how to get a faster response to your email
Put the person’s name in the TO field. The CC field won’t cut it. If you expect someone to respond, make sure you have addressed the e-mail to them. I get so many e-mails now that I have set up an e-mail rule to filter out messages on which I am only CC’d. I automatically assume that these are “for information only.” This automated rule moves messages to my “CC” folder and marks them as read, so they don’t continue to distract me. I only go through this folder once a week or so.
Limit your message to one subject. Good managers practice David Allen’s “two-minute rule” when it comes to processing e-mail. This rule says, “if you can do the action requested in the e-mail in two minutes or less, do it now. If not, put it on your task list for later.” The key then is to make it easy for the recipient to respond now. If you clutter up your e-mail message with several subjects, it makes it easier for the recipient to procrastinate. So it is preferable to send multiple e-mails, each with a discrete subject, than send one e-mail with multiple subjects.
Tell them what you need in the first sentence. Don’t make the recipient wade through a long e-mail to get to the request. Put it at the top of the message and then let them decide if they need more information. For example, the other day, I got an interview request. The sender went on and on about their magazine—the company’s history, the market demographics, the circulation, etc. I had no idea why this information was relevant to me and almost deleted it. Then, after two pages of information, they asked me for the interview. Don’t make this mistake. Get to the point.
Keep the message short. Again, remember the two-minute rule. If it takes longer than two minutes for the recipient to read your message, it will likely get set aside. In fact, they may never get back to it! So, keep it short. I like the advice some people are now giving: keep your message to five sentences or less. If it takes more than this, you should seriously consider another method of communication (e.g. a phone call, meeting, formal report, etc.)
Tell them if your request is urgent or time-sensitive. People need help prioritizing. Most people want to be helpful. If you tell them it is urgent, they will try to comply. But—and be warned—if you do this too often, they will start ignoring you. If a request is time-sensitive but not urgent (e.g., I don’t need it now, but I do need it by the end of the week), I state exactly when I need it. I then track the request in my task management system, so I can be sure to follow-up.
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I just want to tune you into some good stuff posted with the last week. These are sites that I have subscribed to because they regularly have good and thought provoking stuff. Take a look for yourself:
Oak Leaf Church (Behind the Leaf blog) - letter to first givers. They have a sample letter ready for download. This is a wonderful idea to encourage and affirm those who are new to the church with their giving.
Mark Waltz - Mark has a good discussion on how to broach giving with those new to the church in mind. You may choose to do it differently than Granger does it, but it is a good idea to work through your church's expectations and how you communicate to your guests during the offering.
Image Forth - Jeff has a great post concerning Apple's approach to customer service. They just lowered their iPhone price $200 and now they are explaining themselves to their customers that bought it a couple of months ago. According to Jeff, Apple's approach to customer service begs a couple of questions:
"Hum…maybe the church could learn something from Apple here?"
Create an experience that people will want to come back to
Have ample ’sales’ staff to greet and help the newcomers
Provide an experience that would attract early adopters
Keep up with the newest technologies, not resting on our traditions and what worked in the past
Provide a clean, bright, welcoming experience
Support the product you sell
Evaluate and respond to your critics appropriately
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