Video- Part Three

This is part three of video basics, where we are discussing some ways to incorporate video into your communications strategy. In part one we got the 30,000 foot view of video production, and part two we discussed some ways to find your target audience. Today we are going to move forward and figure out how to use different styles of video within your services.

Know your purpose

Once you’ve got your target audience nailed down, think through what that says about the primary purpose video plays in the life of your audience. Does your audience love humorous videos? Does your group connect with more serious TV shows that cause them to reflect on their lives? Do they connect with sarcasm? Should you avoid nerd humor at all cost? You probably have some idea of this from the types of jokes, or lack thereof your pastor has incorporated into his sermons. Your audience is not going to appreciate a video that is full of dry humor, if your pastor always gets comment cards about that joke that is full of dry humor. Keep this in mind when brainstorming video content.

Please make sure you have a purpose for each video you use, and make that purpose clear to the audience or it may distract from the message you are trying to get across during your service. I am helping launch a church right now on the Eastside of Seattle, I along with the launch team spent this past winter church hopping and becoming visitors at churches to research new ideas and start relationships with the other churches in the area. I remember during one service, they played a really funny video as an intro to the sermon, I remember the video clear as day, it had a great story, it was hilarious and it connected with the culture of the area. What I don’t remember, is anything about the sermon or the rest of the service, I was so distracted by waiting for the tie-in to this video and trying to fit it together with each point in the message. The pastor never mentioned the video, the topic of the sermon had nothing to do with the video and it left me feeling like it was just random. Now, I will say in defense of this church, I know their strategy, and the sole purpose of the video may have just been to get everyone to relax before the message, they want to communicate that church can be fun. This is a great purpose for video, but my suggestion for those types of videos is to still acknowledge them or have it tie in with an element of your service, so it doesn’t feel out of place. All it needed was for the pastor to say “good morning, if you are new here, that video was for you, we want to make sure you know church people can pull off a good prank too!” This would be reinforcing the purpose to the audience and they can laugh, then move on and focus on the rest of service.

Remember the purpose doesn’t have to always be deep and spiritual! In fact, some of the most memorable videos I have seen, added a bit of humor to an otherwise heavy morning. Don’t be scared of lighthearted  or funny videos, just make sure you have a purpose, and you are communicating that purpose to the audience.