Communication is Key
Presentation software is like a database. It pieces together parts of songs in the right order and presents them on cue. It’s brilliantly simple in concept. However, the challenge is trying to decide what parts to present when. Songs can have all kinds of parts: verses, choruses, bridges, pre-choruses, refrains, tags, endings. Normally, I put the song order together before Sunday to make rehearsal time more productive. But consider the challenge when I get an order like this:
V, Pre-Ch, Ch x2, Br, Inst, V2, Pre-Ch, Ch x2, Br x2, Tag, End
Looks easy right? Except there is no indication of what words go with those parts. My favorite worship leaders supply very detailed charts that include not only the order (which we call the scan), but also clearly define each part of the song. Some songs are very obvious–”How Great Thou Art” for example; four verses and a chorus. Others are slightly more complicated–Crowder’s “Make a Joyful Noise”; try to figure out which part of that song is a bridge! Having a clear chart completely eliminates the confusion of simply supplying abbreviations because regardless of what a part is called, we can make sure the words are in order.
RELATED: Advice for New Worship Leaders
I highly recommend clear charts, at least until you have a solid book of songs that both the tech team and worship leader are comfortable with, and all parts are well defined. I spent some time in the youth department of my last church putting together a song list that matched the worship team book. After a while, we could use shorthand and not get burned.
Stick to the Script
I fully appreciate that sometimes the spirit of the room dictates that you add an extra repeat of the chorus or throw in an alternate ending for a song. There are times when people get wrapped up in the song, and it makes sense to keep singing it. I support that and want to accommodate an organic style of worship. What I don’t support is worship leaders not bothering to actually learn the song and stick with the order you gave us. I’ve worked with worship leaders in the past whose song order, let alone verse/chorus order, could be considered a guide at best. This might work great when sitting around in a living room with a dozen people, but when there are a few hundred (or a few thousand) people trying to worship God and the only thing they have to go on are the words on the screen, it’s a recipe for disaster.
You might be thinking, “What’s the big deal? It’s all on the computer, follow along!” Two problems with that theory.
Problem 1: Presentation software is generally pretty linear. It’s designed to move through a song in order. It’s possible to go back, but it’s easier in some software than others. To go back, first the operator has to figure out where you went. Are you repeating verse 1 or 2? The bridge or pre-chorus? Then he/she has to scroll back (or look at thumbnails) and find the part you’re repeating, and once found, fire the slide. Depending on how many lines of the song are on the screen at once, by the time the operator figures out where you are, you could be somewhere else.
Problem 2: The presentation operator should be leading the lyrics, not following. Good presentation operators will change slides somewhere in the space between the last two words on a slide. This puts the next set of words up before anyone has to sing them. This style of “leading” ensures there will be an uninterrupted flow of worship, not punctuated by fits and starts as the congregation waits for the next section of the song. If the operator has to follow, the flow will be broken at each slide break.
This is why it’s so important that the worship leader and presentation operator are on the same page to effectively lead the congregation together. Worship leaders, if you’re willing to plan ahead and communicate effectively with us, we can work together to create engaging, powerful, and immersive worship times. The more information the presentation operator has at their disposal, the better the experience will be for everyone.
As a suggested best practice, what we do is have our worship leader check through the lyrics with the presentation operator before sound check. By then, the tech has ordered the slides according to the scan (which I get on Thursday and verify the proper labeling of sections for each song). Minor changes can happen at that point, and both leader and technician know the plan. If, during the service, our worship leader feels the need to repeat something or change it up, he’ll call it out before he goes there. A simple “Sing Glorious One,” during a quick two-bar break gives the operator time to find the right slide and get it on the screen.
To be fair, we technicians need to do our part, pay attention, and make sure the right words are up at the right time. But like I said, that’s another post!
This is a Musicademy (www.musicacademy.com) guest post by Mike Sessler, a Tech Arts Director and creator of an incredibly useful Web site full of info and insight into the technical side of worship.
