Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

What is difficult about YouTube and what it teaches us about church communication

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YouTube has a lot to teach us about communications
YouTube has a lot to teach us about communications creation.

The popular perception of YouTube is that it is really simple, easy, and anybody can slap up a video. In addition--if it is catchy, funny, or  inspiring enough that the video will go viral and the video creator will gain immediate fame and fortune.

It doesn't work that way.

I've spent a lot of time on YouTube lately trying to understand how it works and how I can make the most of it to equip and inspire church communicators. Part of that has been to study some of the popular producers and to look the advice YouTube gives on realistically how to make a video channel that will have significant impact on the audience you want to reach. My first conclusion is that it is much, much harder and more difficult than I imagined. [Read more...]

A new Blog section added to Effective Church Communications

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Yvon looking off to side pic
In this blog I'll try to keep you updated with what is going on behind the scenes, about changes and I'll also share prayer requests. One silly detail--I usually don't wear a suit when I'm working--just finished a Skype interview here.

Why this new blog on ECC:

I talk to myself (and the Lord) quite a bit as I put together the material for this website. I spend most of day in a tiny office (a rather delightful one--I must share pictures one of these days, need to tidy first) working on the computer creating publications, recording videos, wrestling materials into formats for distribution online, and then creating the email newsletters to let you know they are on the website waiting for you.

Because I work alone and because I very much need your prayers and input, I've tried various systems to keep both visitors and members updated--but doing that in newsletters, Facebook, and Twitter (which I will still do) all have the drawback of being a very fleeting communication. When the current communication stream on these passes along, the message is pretty much out of sight and mind. The blog I'm adding will enable you to go back and check out an updates, prayer requests, and news when you want through the "Blog" tab on the home page.

I will use this to communicate ECC news to you and then using the comments section you can either respond, comment, or ask a question about a topic. This will be very useful because then your communications won't get lost in the many kinds of email that flood my ECC email. You don't have to respond or comment. I know all of you who come to this site are extremely busy and it really bothers me when blogs or articles ask inane questions at the end so people will make unnecessary or useless comments. This is often done, I suspect to either increase search engine ranking from the host's part or to sometimes express an opinion better left unexpressed on the part of the audience.

I hope the previous statement didn't come across as too harsh. Many of you have made helpful, useful comments in the past and I treasure them. I simply did not want you to think that because I'm starting a blog here, you have to comment. Read quickly, pray for me and Effective Church Communications, and get back to work—we have a world to win for Jesus!

How to work well with others or what to do when our biggest problems are people, not computers, Part 3

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Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed note: I made a mistake in breaking this article into 3 parts in that I cut the last tip in half—I was simply not paying attention at the page break. Every nugget of advice Gayle gives often convicts me and I didn't go any further than the "so what?" That question got me thinking and I cut off the article at the wrong place.  To correct that, I'm starting this part with the full tip. Please forgive any confusion this might have caused.

How to work well with others or what to do when our biggest problems are people, not computers, Part 3

• give the benefit of the doubt
Petty squabbles and imagined slights make it difficult, if not impossible, to work at our best. Ann thinks the youth minister disrespected her by not recognizing her role in a project; Betty is sure Ann missed a deadline because she wasted time on personal matters. Both are operating on assumptions that may or may not have a basis in fact. And, even if the assumptions are true, really—so what?

When occasional glitches happen, give others the benefit of the doubt. If you make any assumption, let it be that the other person meant you no harm. Very often you will be right. If glitches persist or escalate, it is time to ask questions. Getting to the bottom of a problem need not be a bad thing, but have the facts before you even consider confrontation.

• don’t tell everything you know
The original definition for the position of secretary was, “one who keeps secrets.” Today this may sound a bit sinister, but initially it emphasized the expectation this person could be trusted with information.

Confidentiality remains an essential for the Christian professional. Supervisors, coworkers, and members need to know without question that staff members can be trusted with information. Working well with others requires trustworthiness.

• ask and listen
All of us appreciate working with those who ask our opinion and listen to our ideas. As you work with others, be a person who gives ample opportunities for everyone to be heard. Few people are excellent listeners; you can be a role model by demonstrating that we learn more from listening than from talking. Next time you are with your group, ask—then listen up!

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To go to Part 1 of this article, CLICK HERE.

To go to Part 2 of this article, CLICK HERE.

 

friday miscellany #6: How I create training videos, Mobile checkin for Children’s ministry, FREE software for illustration presentations & more

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Issue #6 of friday miscellany, links that are helpful, useful, fun & inspiring for church communicators

The newsletters sent out during the week link you to sources on the Effective Church Communications site that are primarily "how-tos" in church communications.  However, there are many more resources, sites, tips, and ideas that I come across that may be useful for church communicators. Here are the ones for this Friday.

Please pass this on to your friends and other church communications groups.

Video: How I create training videos--software, process, tips

Over the last few years I've created over 100 videos on a variety of topics to help church communicators. I get great feedback from many of you on how much they help and in addition to that I've had a number of requests for questions on how I do them.  Several church communicators have suggested that this type of video would be great to do to help church volunteers learn various tasks and I agree.
CLICK HERE to go to a video that is an overview of the software I use, my process and some tips.

Mobile Check-in–a new way to accommodate the needs of young families

The church management software company, By the Book. has stepped into the digital age in a big way with their new way of checking in children at church with any mobile device. Here is how they describe it:

Imagine deploying your volunteers throughout your church building, armed with iPads or smartphones ready to check folks in.  Then by the time those same folks walk over to the  printing station, their name tags and security tags are already printed and waiting for them.  Do you have a bus ministry?  Now you can check those kids in as soon as they hop on the bus.  When they get to the church, their name tags are there waiting for them.  Well, this is now available. . . .

CLICK HERE to read more.

Linotype, the Film…..or how typesetting was done before computers

Typography is a topic of almost endless fascination to many of us who love words and work hard to craft our messages. Though our message is unchanging, during my lifetime the methods for communicating this message have changed dramatically. One part of the history of type has recently been made into a movie and one of the ECC readers sent me this fantastic movie trailer about Linotype machines, which were extraordinary for their time in how they were able to cast an entire line of type rather than a typesetter having to assemble them letter by letter.
CLICK HERE to see the movie trailer and find out more.

Fun Illustration creation software

This is a situation where I had so much fun playing around with this, I couldn't wait to share it--even though I don't know very much about it. This software, POWTOONS is still in beta, but it is very easy to play around with and allows you to create some sketch-like presentations without actually having to draw anything. It would be great for church announcements.
CLICK HERE for more information on the program.

FREE, legal music tracks for your videos and podcasts

It isn't easy finding truly FREE music  that is legal for your videos and podcasts. Though this site does not have a lot of specifically Christian music it does have many instrumentals that can be used in videos and podcasts. In addition, it is one of the most honest, easy-to-use, free music sites I've looked at.

This is the site I used for the music for the POWTOONS video I created in the article above. I simply downloaded the music from ccmixter and imported it into the POWTOONS file. I copied the attribution and put it in the YouTube video file and on my website. Super easy--I may try putting music on some more of my videos in the future.
CLICK HERE for more.

FREE, legal music tracks for your videos and podcasts

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ccmixterIt isn't easy finding truly FREE music  that is legal for your videos and podcasts. Though this site does not have a lot of specifically Christian music it does have many instrumentals that can be used in videos and podcasts. In addition, it is one of the most honest, easy-to-use, free music sites I've looked at.

Below is a short video that shows how easy it is to select, download and give proper credit to the songs you choose. This is the site I used for the music for the POWTOON video I created . I simply downloaded the music from ccmixter and imported it into the POWTOON file. I copied the attribution and put it in the YouTube video file and on my website. Super easy--I may try putting music on some more of my videos in the future.

Here is the site: http://dig.ccmixter.org/