This afternoon, I was preparing my notes for the church communications workshop I teach on Wednesday. I caught myself deleting a suggestion I had previously included. I thought: "They're going to resist this because it'll add more to their plate and they're already overloaded."
Even as I had the thought, however, I took a step back. The suggestion was an important one, one I share with my clients, one I know improves church communication over time. It can make the workload more streamlined and less burdensome. I put the suggestion back in my slides.
I share this because it is also true of the checklist I offer here. Learning to be more intentional about what our churches communicate and how requires a little more preparation on the front end and a little more analysis on the back end. But in the end, you will know how to communicate more strategically instead of more often, more efficiently instead of in more places.
The next time you sit down to relay a message on behalf of your church—whether it concerns plans for reopening or how to access the Sunday morning live stream, consider the five questions in the graphic above. There is no right or wrong answer and the questions won't always lead you in the same direction. Yet, this minimum added thoughtfulness will begin to show real gains in effective communication over time.
And if the questions don't make sense to you or you're not sure what your answers would be, drop me an email and let's find a time chat. I'm happy to walk you through them in more depth and detail!
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