Preaching with a TV by your side became a little trendy even before the pandemic hit. But, there are some important reasons why you might want to start using one to preach during the pandemic. Let’s take a look at why.
Think about what things were like before the pandemic.
Before, it was common for speakers to use some kind of slides where their quotes or Scriptures would be projected on large screens on the sides. This was perfect to communicate when you only had a local audience. But then Covid hit. Everyone started streaming, but a lot of other things stayed the same. Some churches, including ours at the beginning of the pandemic, would simply edit in or switch over to the slide full screen when it was being referenced by the speaker.
The problem for the audience is that this immediately cuts off the connection with the speaker. When you’re already watching from your couch dressed in your pajamas and kids are running around and the dog is barking, believe me, this is a problem. Connection and attention are a valuable commodity, and it is easily lost.
So what can you do?
Preach with a TV by you.
Here’s how it works. You have a large screen TV somewhere on the platform with you. When you’re going to reference a quote or Scripture that you’d normally have on a screen, you just walk over to the TV screen and refer to it. Don’t stand in front of the screen. Stand beside it. That way, you never lose the connection with those that are listening.
For those that are local, they’re still seeing the quotes on the large screens on the sides. But for those watching online, they’re seeing the quote from the TV screen without the visible connection being broken.
Make sense?
Let me show you some pictures to illustrate. These are some screenshots from one of my latest sermons. You can watch it here if you’re curious.
Here’s a screenshot from Andy Stanley, the lead pastor at Northpoint Community Church. He does a really great job of speaking to the camera and using a TV screen.
This is not earth-shattering stuff, I know. It’s simple but really important in this new era.
An alternate to this would be to use lower thirds while you preach. This is what Craig Groeschel from Life.Church does.
And, while I’m on the subject, you need to look at the camera more.
Yes, I’m talking to you.
If you’re streaming from your living room or from an empty church, I imagine you’re already just preaching to the camera, hopefully. But, possibly for the last several months, some of you have had some people physically return to the pews. It’s ok to look at them and communicate with them, but if more people are watching online than are with you locally, you need to act accordingly. Look at them.
This will be hard in the beginning, but the more you do it the more comfortable you’ll feel.
So what do you think? Do you use a TV when you preach already? What’s it like for you? To leave a comment click here.
(Photo by Tye Doring on Unsplash)
