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Chris WesleyMore Posts Develop a Communication Strategy

Our ministry once hosted a “Battle of the Bands” fundraiser that required a lot of work. Our team had to audition bands, price out food, order speakers and recruit volunteers. We put so much work into this event; however, we forgot one key component:

TO INVITE PEOPLE

We had sent out an email, and made a few flyers; however, that was it. What was the response? Embarrassing. While a few people showed up, they were mostly friends and families of the band. It was a disaster.

Developing a communication strategy is a must in youth ministry and while it doesn’t seem like the most attractive responsibility, without it you can’t expect your ministry to grow. Developing a strategy for how you communicate means being intentional about what you say, how you say it and to whom. That means:

Scheduling a Designated Time: Your communication efforts need your focus; therefore, give yourself allotted time to respond to emails and voicemails. Carve time to work on a message and schedule your social media posts ahead of time with software like Simply Youth Ministry Tools, Hootsuite and Buffer. Develop a plan so you don’t rush and create a costly mistake.
Understanding Your Mediums: Part of a communications strategy is understanding that people utilize different mediums. We are no longer in the days of emails and phone calls. Understanding the power of your platform by utilizing social media, texting and even your message is key to getting your point across. Pick a few resources that you feel most of your target audience uses and practice using them.
Gaining Feedback: Get someone’s insight and feedback before you post something online, respond to an important email or deliver a message. The problem with electronic communication is that it can be difficult to read emotion and once it’s out there, IT’S OUT THERE. You never want to come off patronizing, sarcastic or offensive to your audience. So before you hit SEND, ask a friend to share their thoughts.
Knowing Your Audience: Come off patronizing to parents and they won’t take you seriously. Speak over a teenager’s head and you’ll lose their engagement. Know your audience by spending time with them; however, do not try to be them. The best way to speak to any audience is to acknowledge when you are an expert and when you are not. People will appreciate your humility if they know it’s coming from sincerity.
Repeat, Repeat and Repeating: You can’t say something only once and expect people to remember it. Repeat it, tweak it and then repeat it again. Utilize all the different mediums, and stagger it so that it doesn’t get lost in the noise.

If you communicate clearly and effectively you will be able to mobilize the next generation. Develop a strategy and make it a part of your daily responsibilities so that you are never wondering if you’ve been heard. To get one started takes a little bit of commitment; however, once you get going the possibilities are endless.

Which of these tips is the hardest one for you to embrace?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

Add Comment April 23, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts Youth Workers: Be a Student of the Culture

Madonna. Walkmans. TV dinners. Land lines. Bowl cuts. MC Hammer. Star Wars.

Lady Gaga. iPods. Starbucks. iPhones. The Fade. LMFAO. Hipsters. Hunger Games.

When we were in high school, things were a little different—instead of iPads we used wide-margin notebook paper, and our collection of 75 CDs of music was stored in twin towers of jewel cases. The idea of storing 5-kajillion songs on our phone would have caused our heads to explode!

One of the most intimidating aspects of youth ministry is understanding youth culture. One of the biggest roadblocks that potential volunteers face when joining your ministry is determining if they still “get it.”

Here’s the good news right up front: You don’t have to be culturally relevant, but it may be helpful to know the world your students are living in. Here are a few ideas to help you connect with their culture quickly:

Find out what shows your students watch and watch 10 minutes of each every now and then.
Watch the MTV Movie Awards (or similar show) for a quick burst of culture…and a quick shock to your system.
Pay attention to the commercials directed towards teenagers—what are they selling to students?
Browse the magazines your students are reading.
Stroll through a local mall and window shop at stores aimed at teens.
Pick a student up after school for a Starbucks…get there a little early and just observe/listen.
Join Facebook!
Surf the Internet—visit sites that your students frequent.
Go to the local movie theater on a Friday night.
Ask questions.

The bottom line is simply this: The more you understand about the world today’s junior high and high school students live in, and the more you are willing to remember about yourself at that age, the more effective you will be as a minister.

Even though technology, music, and clothes have changed…the need for love, acceptance and encouragement in a student’s life hasn’t changed a bit. Blessings as you minister today!

This post was written by Josh Griffin and Kurt Johnston and originally appeared as part of Simply Youth Ministry Today free newsletter. Subscribe to SYM Today right here.

Add Comment March 20, 2013

Colton HarkerMore Posts Viral Marketing

A few months ago, we had a discussion about the effectiveness of on-stage announcements during our weekend services. It was the main way that we would push all of our events and upcoming opportunities. But we felt that students just weren’t listening to what we were saying up there and we questioned whether or not it was still the most effective way to communicate to our students. So we took a risk and cut all on-stage announcements and decided that we would only show 1-2 videos announcements per weekend. Of course that meant that the videos went to the big events like summer camp, small group launches, etc., and, unfortunately, left the smaller events without much spotlight.

This was a huge leap of faith and a total departure from what we were used to, but it was a risk worth taking. It forced us to get creative and try new things. So we started playing around with the idea of viral marketing. We studied things like the Invisible Children campaign and looked at the most practical elements we could adopt to our own ministry.

The genius behind viral marketing is that other people are doing the marketing for you. In youth ministry, that means students are pushing your events for you. And the best way to get students to go to things is them knowing that they will have friends there.

Last week, we threw our first event that was pushed solely through the use of social media and by the grace of God, it worked! We didn’t say a word about it during the weekend and our attendance at the event was just as good, if not better, than any event we pushed “the old fashioned way.” I thought I would share a few of the things we learned along the way:

-The Platforms. What social media are students using? For our students, they really like Facebook and they LOVE Instagram. So we focused on those two platforms and formed our strategy around that.

-The Material. The key to viral marketing is having sharable material that is interesting and straightforward. Sharable material works best when the sharer doesn’t have to write an explanation for your videos or graphics, they just have to repost them. For Instagram, we made an attention grabbing graphic with all of the information clearly presented. For Facebook, we made a video that was short, funny, and easy to follow.

-The Network. Viral marketing starts with a few people and branches big. Get as many students as you can to help you start. We went straight to our student leaders and other core students to help us start. A good thing to keep in mind is demographics. Make sure that every school is getting hit and every grade is getting hit.

-The Momentum. Space out your posts and keep a steady stream going from several different users. It can be really easy for viral marketing to lose steam after a day or two because everyone already posted it at once. Don’t let your campaign die early on!

How are you marketing your ministry’s events/announcements? What is working for you?

Colton [Email||Twitter]

4 View Comments February 27, 2013

Geoff StewartMore Posts GUEST POST: Don’t Buy the Short Attention Span Myth

I hear it all the time.

“Keep your message short” - “Teenagers only have a 15-minute attention span” - “Attention spans are shorter than they used to be”

Have you ever heard similar advice?

I’m going to go ahead and call bull. I’m not saying that getting the attention of an ADHD junior high kid isn’t difficult. But I have made a few observations over the years. Teenagers will sit easily for at least an hour to watch their favorite TV show. They will listen intently to a stand up comedian for an hour. They will sit for 2 or 3 hours to watch a new movie. They have even been known to play the same video game for 3 hours or more on end.

I don’t buy the short attention span myth.

Think about it. TV show are actually getting longer! Most prime-time shows are now an hour long. Big season premieres and finales may even run up to two hours.

Here is the point: We don’t have to preach shorter; we have to preach better. The bar has been raised. Their standards are high, because they are surrounded by high quality entertainment 24/7. They can spot boring quick. We have to be more engaging.

Tell stories (Jesus did). Use humor. Ask questions. Draw them in.Don’t sell out. Don’t think you have to just play a lot of games and sneak in a quick surface-level message before they notice.The short attention span myth is a cop-out for putting in the hard work to creating messages that resonate with students and create a lasting impression.

Now, don’t go overboard. They don’t need to hear you ramble for over an hour on the sacrificial system of the old covenant. But don’t sell yourself short. There is power in the preaching of God’s Word.

Engage your students. Get excited about the message. Make the Bible come alive for them. Keep working. Keep improving. Don’t give up!

Put in the work and you just might be surprised how long they will listen.

Brandon Hilgemann has been working in Youth Ministry for years in churches across the country from church plants to megachurches. He has been on a personal mission for the last 9 years to become the best speaker he can be. For more of his thoughts on preaching, check out his website right here.

-GS

3 View Comments February 13, 2013

Geoff StewartMore Posts Conflict In The Internet Age

I remember a time when I didn’t have an email address, when I had a friend in high school who had Napster and in a good evening where no one picked up the phone and cut the connection we could download 3 songs and couldn’t believe how fast it was. I remember a time before Facebook and Google and I don’t know if I liked it better but it was definitely different. Working with students today, they have never known a world without the internet, never learned the beauty of using a library card catalog to find a book or fumbled with a microfiche reader. There are so many redeeming and exciting things about the world that we live in now, but I am starting to think that there are some unfortunate side effects that will cause some new challenges that we need to know how to take on.

Case and point: Conflict

In the past few weeks I have had some tough conversations with several students about their life and the road it was leading them down and talked to others about pride, attitude and spiritual arrogance. In both cases ;as kindly and gracefully as I could tell them, neither have not been back to the group since our conversation. I have reached out, called, messaged and apologized for the way the conversation made them feel. As it says in Galatians 4:16 Have I become their enemy for telling them the truth? There seems to be a growing trend for students to not know how to engage with people they disagree with and would rather avoid the conflict and part of the root of this I feel is coming from the fact that:

Students don’t have to put up with anything they don’t like.

Whether its music, TV, or conversations, young people today have the world at their finger tips. If they don’t like the song, they have thousands available to them in seconds. Gone are the days of waiting for the song on the radio to finish or turning it down. Today they don’t have to put up with anyone else’s music because they can bring their own. Have you driven past a school bus of students recently? Its white ear buds from front to back. No more 99 bottles of beer on that wall. They have hundreds of TV channels plus DVRs, Youtube, Hulu, Netflix means that they never really have to watch anything that they don’t have to. Entertainment is on demand so why should people not be the same?

So logically the same expectations of instantly getting what they want enters the realm of relationships. They know what they want, and they know what they don’t. With hundreds of friends on Facebook, the moment that a relationship is not what they want anymore they switch and go find one they better. Sadly this is exactly what is happening when students experience conflict. The modern conveniences of our culture are teaching our students that compromise is not necessary or important. Teenagers can block anyone from my newsfeed whom they disagree with or don’t like. With phone in hand, the moment an event gets remotely boring or uncomfortable they reach for the phone to find something or someone better or at least less awkward than what is in front of them. They can find engaging community online with every area of interest in their life. Friends who they share common interests and with are only a text or app away, so why would they talk to someone who might not share their thoughts / opinions? That just seems like work.

This is the challenge we are going to engage in, how do we teach students the value of healthy conflict and that you can be friends with people you don’t always agree with? How can we go make disciples if we are unwilling to engage those whose opinions differ from ours.

In the next 2 weeks I am going to be writing a 6 part series on things we need to teach our students with our lives before we preach to them. I pray is helpful and encouraging to you. Working with students is never easy and this new generation that wants things their way or no way at all is going to be even harder to reach.

-Geoff – Twitter geoffcstewart

8 View Comments January 21, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts What If Our Tweets Were Real?

I love Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I usually find myself on each one of them at some point nearly every day. There’s something great about reading about our friend’s lives 1000′s of miles away or chucking at someone’s pithy observation about life. But what if our Tweets were real?

My senior pastor is a jerk sometimes. I want to punch him in the face
I’ve been married 10 years, and still don’t have sex figured out
I’m pretty sure my whole youth group is filled with “that one kid”
The last time I read the Bible was in late 2012
I want to quit I want to quit I want to quit
Things aren’t good deep inside me, but the outside is as shiny as ever
If I could figure out where to dispose the body, I’d take out that parent

Don’t Tweet these! We need to continue to post those stunning sunsets, epic CS Lewis quotes and pictures of our no foam latte. I would die if my real life made it was genuinely Tweeted for the world to see, or pictures of my inner world made it online. But you need to be sharing it somewhere.

You need to have someone who knows the real you, not the brand, image or “always on” youth worker. You need to be able to confess, share, process and pray through the stuff you would never Tweet.

Simple question to kick off the week: is someone reading your real Tweets?

JG

6 View Comments January 21, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts A Teenagers Take on Technology

Mike Johnson sent me this link that was fascinating to me – Buzzfeed has a great article for youth workers (and parents) to get the inside scoop on technology and teenagers. As I read it, so much of it was spot on. Here’s an excerpt – head there for the whole article:

INSTAGRAM
Looking at her Instagram feed, I noticed that the vast majority of photos were of people – not beautiful views, objects, or experiences. This is in stark contrast to what the people I follow on Instagram take photos of, and very analogous to the photos that appear in my Facebook Newsfeed.

My takeaway: Facebook was smart to buy Instagram.

SNAPCHAT
My sister maintains that Snapchat is up there with Instagram, in terms of usage amongst her peers. Her exemplary use case was a moment that she captured in the airport of a funny looking man who was snoozing in an awkward position. It’s the type of thing that you want to share with somebody, but it’s insignificance would make it awkward in a text or status update. “It’s a way to connect with friends when you don’t really have anything to say.” Or in my words, if traditional messaging is functional — communicating for a purpose; “What time do you want to meet for the movie?” — Snapchat is the opposite, whatever that is.

My takeaway: Snapchat is a communication tool, seriously.

JG