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Take Advantage of Testimony to Recruit Hosts

I’ve talked about this concept before (here and here), but it is so powerful I wanted to come back to it one more time.  Whether you’re recruiting hosts or members there is almost nothing more powerful that personal testimony.  In fact, it probably should have been one of the Top 10 Reasons Saddleback Has Connected Over 130% in Small Groups.  They are masterful at using the power of personal testimony in their services.

You can film it in advance (like the ones I’ve linked to below) or you can do it live.

Personal testimony is a powerful element.  The reason it is so popular with product marketers is it is effective.

The very best place to add video is during the message.  There are two main reasons for this:

  • The time during your service when you have the best chance of having everyone’s attention is during the message.  You’re only kidding yourself if you think that people are paying attention during the announcements…no matter when they’re place.  But if your pastor says “Just watch this video” or “please welcome Bob and Sue”…people are more likely to be paying attention.
  • Video or live testimony often adds an emotional element that is missing in many sermons.  Although there are some speakers that can deliver the full range of emotion in their messages (John Ortberg comes to mind), this is not true of everyone.  Many are much more adept at using humor to spice up their sermon delivery.  You need to know that humor will not work as a recruiting device.

When I’m producing a host testimony video, you’ll notice that I’m not in the video.  I’m off camera and I’ve instructed the folks I’m interviewing to answer in a way that lets the audience know what the question was.  I routinely ask 3 main questions when I am producing a video to recruit hosts:

  1. When you were thinking about hosting a group, what were you afraid of?  Or why were you hesitant?
  2. What do you sense God did in your group?
  3. What would you say to the people who are thinking about hosting?
  4. I sometimes add in a 4th question if it feels right: Can you imagine not having the group?

Listen for these three questions as you watch this year’s videos:

40 Days of Purpose #1 from Mark Howell on Vimeo.

40 Days of Purpose #2 from Mark Howell on Vimeo.