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.
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The importance of complete church communications if you want people to connect with church events

14 March, 2012 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

details thumbIf there is one thing that I think would change the destiny of the Christian church and make it far more successful at reaching our world today and effective at communicating our message,  it would be for church communicators to stop assuming that everyone knows what they are talking about and to communicate the church message completely.

In communication after communication, in print and online I see incomplete messages. As a result people don’t respond. Then church leaders get discouraged and think people don’t care anymore.

But they do! People care about their earthly well-being and eternal destiny, as the huge following of every new self-help or spiritual guru program shows us. But many are not responding to the Christian message because church leaders and communicators forget what it’s like to be an unchurched person or a casual church attendee. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Misc. Advice and Articles Tagged With: church communication, complete communication, details in communication

Being a Better Office Manager, part two:

11 January, 2012 By grhilligoss@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: Last week  Gayle introduced the topic of How to be a Better Office Manager and this week  she continues with some excellent advice on:

The Five basic functions of management are planning, staffing, organizing, directing, and evaluating.

• planning
Planning is the first step in constructively moving from where you are to where you want to be, from the way things are to the way things ought to be. Base your plans on specific measurable goals. In planning the work of the office you must have a clear view of:

• what needs to be done and when;

• the skills and abilities of each worker.

Once the plans are made, take action. The ultimate goal of your planning is not to do work, but to accomplish results.

• staffing

When hiring new people, search for the best available. Look for those with commitment and a sensitive spirit as well as technical skills. Be secure enough to surround yourself with sharp, talented people.

Be familiar with the position description of each person you supervise. Assign tasks to best make use of your people’s talents. Know who can do what best. Give staff members opportunities to grow in their jobs and to use their initiative. As you do these things, you will be making positive strides toward building a team.

• organizing

The manager has five basics with which to work:

• people—both volunteer and paid;

• resources—equipment, property, funds;

• information—facts about needs, opportunities;

• experience—what you know, your abilities;

• time—your most valuable resource.

The effective manager coordinates these basics in organizing the work of the office.

Teamwork is enhanced when each element works smoothly with the others. For instance: a person receiving an assignment has the information and ability to do the job, enough time is scheduled, necessary equipment is available, sufficient information is at hand and backup help is ready if and when it is needed.

• directing

Your communication skills are basic tools in directing your team members. Most direction is verbal. Give clear, concise instructions. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Identify who is to do the job, what specifically is to be done, where will it be done, when will it be started and finished.

Within those guidelines recognize the method of giving direction that will get the best results from each team member. One person may need written support, or every detail explained; another may need only the briefest instruction.

• evaluating

Because even the best planning, staffing, organizing, and directing can be improved, evaluating is essential. Evaluating allows you to look at the course and make corrections.

Analyze each project as it is completed. How do you rate the results? What action steps would you repeat? What would you definitely not repeat? What was not done that should have been? Put tasks under a microscope; you grow in the art of management as you learn from your experiences.

Set up a filing system up to preserve your resources for use next time. What counts is not how hard the team worked or how many hours were put in, but what results were achieved. Accurate evaluation preserves the lessons learned and gives you a better return on time invested when you do the next project.

As you evaluate workers be generous with expressions of appreciation—both privately and publicly.

_________________________________________

To read part one of  Being a Better Office Manager, CLICK HERE

To read part three of Being a Better Office Manager, CLICK HERE

Next week, we'll have part three and you'll learn the tasks you need to do as an effective manager

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Filed Under: Church Office Skills, Columnist Gayle Hilligoss Tagged With: church communication, church leandership, church office, church planning, church staffing

Why you shouldn’t plan too far ahead in church communications

25 December, 2011 By Yvon Prehn Leave a Comment

Plan ahead in your church communications, but do so cautiously.
Plan ahead in your church communications, but do so with wisdom and prayer.

At the start of the year, it's natural to want to do some planning, but planning can be both a positive and a negative thing. It's always challenging as I was reminded when several churches have asked how to create a communication plan for the next five to seven years. Each of them has mentioned that new technology can be costly and they want to be prepared, in their budgeting and for training. Though I admire their desire to be good stewards, planning ahead for five years in church communications, especially when it involves trying to figure out technology needs, is futile.

Could you have envisioned your communication world today five years ago?

Think about it. Five years ago, could you:

  • Have  imagined or planned for the iPhone and iPad?
  • Known texting would be a major way your youth group would communicate and your youth pastor would need a high-end mobile phone?
  • Have known that skill with Facebook  would be useful, if not essential, when you hire a church secretary?
  • Imagined that Tweeting would be a skill your senior Pastor might want to learn? Even known the meaning of Tweeting or that social media in any form would be able to overturn governments and raise millions for charity? [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Leading & Managing, Planning and Managing Tagged With: church communication, church communicators devotion, church leadership, church website, communication planning, Communications, iPhone, Jesus, technology and Christianity, web, yvon prehn

Video: Why your church needs to create multi-channel communications

5 July, 2011 By Yvon Prehn 4 Comments

We have so many ways we can share the messages of our church today, often our biggest challenge is knowing which one to use. The video here is an overview of the communication channels available to church communicators today along with a discussion of the positives and challenges about each one. It also encourages you to create a communication team because no one person can possibly do all the communication in any church today.

This is not a how-to for every channel shown, but an essential OVERVIEW of the church communication channels.

Below the video is a PDF of the handouts for the Video.

This video is FREE for everyone, but the PDF of the notes are for ECC MEMBERS only. We are in the process of adding HD videos for ECC Members, this one was created before we had that ability, but it is still very useful. Membership is one of the best investments you can make in the communication success of your church and is only $9.99 a month or $99 a year for any size church. CLICK HERE for membership information and signup.

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Below is a PDF of the notes for the video above:

[mepr-show if="rule: 23971"]
Multi-channel Handouts
[/mepr-show]

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Filed Under: Multi-Channel Communications, Social networking, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Tagged With: church communication, church communications training, Church Websites, multi-channel communication, yvon prehn training video

Be a better listener, part three Ten techniques you can use now

9 May, 2011 By grhilligoss@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: There is so much in this article that would make all of our relationships much more loving and pleasing to our Lord because if we don't take the time to really listen to someone, how do we know if we are meeting their real needs or concerns? Read and pray for the patience to practice the suggestions.

 

In 1979 the Sperry Corporation became interested in listening when looking for an advertising campaign theme. During their research Sperry discovered their employees believed the company’s distinguishing trait was its willingness to listen. Before starting a campaign based on this theme, Sperry wanted to make sure they really were good listeners.

Incidentally, isn’t that a good idea? Have you ever visited a church whose motto is something like “The Friendliest Church in Town” and not received even one friendly greeting? Mottos do need to be authentic.

Wisely, Sperry sought out Dr. Lyman Steil, a former faculty member of the speech communication division of the University of Minnesota. Dr. Steil’s findings sparked new interest in this vital communication skill and provided some solid listening guidelines that hold true even today.

Here are ten techniques based on his research that you can begin to use right away to double and even triple the effectiveness of your listening.

• Identify the speaker’s purpose. What is he trying to communicate? What is being said you can use? How does the message relate to what you already know?

You know the speaker’s purpose before some meetings or seminars. Get in the flow by doing preliminary research. For instance, before a calendar planning meeting go over agendas, note upcoming projects, and be ready to process new information.

Unless you focus on the purpose of the message you may miss the point altogether.

More than 15,000 people heard Abraham Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address. Most didn’t even applaud. Because they missed Lincoln’s purpose, they didn’t realize they had heard one of the great speeches of all time. The speaker wasn’t at fault, but the listeners.

• Listen for ideas as well as facts. “I’m feeling discouraged about our young people” may mean far more than that. Perhaps the speaker is unhappy with the youth minister; perhaps she is concerned with the amount of money budgeted for youth work; perhaps she is having difficulty with her own youngster.

The person who comes in to share a problem seldom starts the conversation with the real problem. Never make assumptions; listen between the lines.

• Note key words and ideas to review later. Messages and instructions are more likely to be handled correctly when you write them down as received. Practice making concise notes. If you try to write every word, you will miss much of what is being said.

• Tune out distractions. A ringing phone, an uncomfortable chair, a chilly room—all can distract you from listening. Or you may be too rushed, hungry, preoccupied, emotional, or ill to feel like being a listener. Overcome distractions by focusing your total concentration on the speaker.

• Make eye contact. Looking at someone indicates your interest. Whether you agree comes later, but do pay visual attention to the speaker. What the eyes say constitutes a significant part of the message.

On the phone see the speaker in your mind’s eye. Visualization makes the conversation more personal and helps fix your attention.

• Be responsive. Your main role as a listener is to be attentive and to make it easy for the person speaking to you to get his message across.

Be careful not to close the door on those who need a listening ear. Never discount people’s feelings with stock phrases or simplistic advice such as, “Oh, it can’t be that terrible,” or, “Just relax. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

In his book People Skills, Robert Bolton suggests what he calls door openers to initiate conversations with those who you feel may want to talk with you:

First, a description of the other person’s body language: “You’re looking a little down today.”

Second, an invitation to talk: “Want to talk about it?”

Third, silence. Give the person a reasonable amount of time to decide if to talk and what to say.

And fourth, attending. Eye contact and a posture of involvement demonstrates your interest and concern.

All four parts are not necessarily present in every door opener. Sometimes a simple, “Let’s hear about it” is sufficient. To draw someone out, ask questions that cannot be answered with just a yes or no. But never be pushy; open the door but don’t barge in.

Be careful not to nod your head at something you don’t understand. Ask the speaker to explain, or say, “Tell me more about that.” When you hear unpopular ideas or feel criticized it can be hard to be responsive, but even if you don’t agree with the speaker you can establish rapport. Ask questions and search for points of agreement. If you listen only to those with whom you agree, you never grow.

• Use your thought time wisely. I speak at the speed of approximately 175 words a minute—but you listen four times faster! To be an active listener, direct your thought time to the topic at hand. Recall what you already know. Summarize how each new point builds on what has gone before. In dialogues you might rephrase the information by saying, “What I’m hearing is...” or “Let me be sure I understand.”

In a private conversation, resist using thought time to formulate advice. In The Miracle of Dialogue Reuel Howe writes, “The purpose of communication is not to give our answers to people’s questions. When we’ve been asked, ‘What would you do if you were in my place?’ we often comment later, ‘I didn’t know what to tell him.’ Implicit in that response is the assumption that we should have known and told the inquirer what he should do.”

Howe goes on to explain that the responsibility of the listener is simply to listen, not to take on the problems of others. In fact, we should not rob others of the joy of acquiring their own insight and answers. He writes, “There is no reason at all why we should provide people with answers to their questions, although the temptation to do so is great. The giving of answers to problems is a thankless task. If the answer given turns out to be wrong, they will resent both the answer and the one who gives it; and if it turns out to be right, they may also be resentful because they did not think of it.”

The best solution is to provide essential information when you can, but to allow others to formulate their own answers.

• Avoid being judgmental, critical, or argumentative. Give people a fair opportunity to be heard even if you don’t like how they look or how they sound, even if you do not appreciate their attitude or personality or point of view.

Obviously you will evaluate what you hear and see; being willing to listen does not mean you aren’t entitled to your own convictions. But give people the benefit of the doubt. Look for points of agreement, not for points with which to take issue.

Accept comments in the context of the full message, rather than zeroing in on a red flag issue and finding fault. There are few statements that absolutely could not be argued if one wants to pick them apart.

Generally the person speaking counts on your good judgment and trusts you will withhold rebuttal until you have heard the full story. Be sure not to tune out because you think you already know what is going to be said. The ancient Greeks taught that it is impossible for a person to learn what he thinks he already knows.

• Watch for non-verbals. Listen with your eyes as well as ears; communication is far more than words. Be aware that people cannot not communicate; their very appearance sends messages.

Words spoken comprise only about 7 percent of communication. Thirty-eight percent of the message comes from tone of voice, pitch, volume, rate of speech, and mannerisms like nervous laughter or clearing the throat. Over half of the message—55 percent—is non-verbal: appearance, posture, eye movement, gestures, and facial expression.

The eighty muscles of the face are capable of making more than 7000 expressions. When there is conflict between words and facial expression, the non-verbal message is far more likely to be accurate. As you listen, observe.

• Fix the flaws and practice. To become proficient in any skill, discover the better way and repeat it often. Regularly listen to difficult or unfamiliar material that challenges your mental capacities. Sharpen your listening talent with tests and exercises.

This simple experiment demonstrates how, depending on how the words are spoken, can have widely different meanings. Choose a sentence and repeat it several times, each time putting the emphasis on a different word. For example, use the sentence, “I didn’t say she took the money” and see how many shades of meaning you can project. Practicing will help you hear the subtle distinctions in the voices of others.

Listening is a skill much like others we acquire; there is always room to grow better. Work on your listening skills at work, at home, at church, and in social situations. You will notice a positive difference in the way you listen to others and in how they listen and respond to you. Practice makes perfect!

_____________________

Series of the Three Articles on Be a Better Listener by Gayle Hilligoss

Click on any of the links to go to the article:
Be a better listener, part one: Mastering the Most Overlooked Communication Skill by Gayle Hilligoss

Be a better listener, part two: AIM, the three significant aspects of listening by Gayle Hilligoss

Be a better listener, part three: Ten techniques you can start to use now by Gayle Hilligoss

 

 

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Filed Under: Church Office Skills, Columnist Gayle Hilligoss Tagged With: church communication, church office skills, Columnist Gayle Hilligoss, listening

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