Tony Jeary

You have, maybe, ten seconds… That’s all it takes for someone to create a first impression, based on your body language, words, tone, appearance, and gestures. You want those ten seconds to count.

It’s not much different for your church. Every person who meets, greets, assists, directs, serves, teaches, or ministers to guests is creating a first impression. The difference is these guests are evaluating not just individuals, but the entire church.

The heart and attitude of a church are displayed in the way its people connect with each other and with guests. The warmth behind a smile, a welcoming comment, or clear directions can make all the difference in the first impression created for a visitor. In many churches, guests could encounter at least five or six personal touches or connections during the course of their visit and the day or two following:

• Parking attendants
• Greeters
• Information table attendants
• Coffee bar hosts
• Ushers
• Follow-up hosts

The following Seven Steps to Effective Presentations can be applied to help any Christian communicate more effectively, inside or outside the church, and they can help you think through the impact you are making on your guests through your first impression.

Step 1: Clarify Objectives. Your ultimate objective will be to create a memorable first impression by helping guests feel welcome and comfortable. Do all that you can to help them find the warmth, genuineness, friendliness, and encounter with God that they are seeking. Other objectives may include offering clear and pleasant directions, reducing the intimidation factor, or helping people make connections with others or essential ministries in your church.

Step 2: Define Your Audience. You often don’t have much time to define your audience as people are arriving, but they will all fit into one of three categories:

• People you know
• People you have seen before, and
• People who are there for the first time

Simply saying to everyone, “It’s good to see you” often eliminates the guesswork and sends a clear welcoming first impression to each person you greet. Most of the time, parents are thrilled by the effort to make their child feel welcome. Whether you are welcoming the young or old, meet them on their level to create a great first impression and make them want to come back.

Step 3: Gather Content. Your content could very well be from the training you received as a member of the welcome team (greeters, ushers, parking lot attendants, and any others who have been assigned to welcome guests and create a great first impression). It may also be beneficial to ask others who have held similar positions for comments or phrases that worked well for them. Make sure you know how to direct guests to the different areas of the church, or have maps available to hand to them and show them the best route to take.

Step 4: Maximize Preparation. Consider how weather affects people and can create a first impression as they arrive. Make sure walkways are clear of snow and ice. If it is raining, you may need to recruit more people to help walk guests in with umbrellas. Find out where the coat and umbrella racks are. Greeters and ushers need to plan ahead and have extra handouts ready. Think through as many scenarios as you can and be prepared for them. Preparation creates a first impression of a church that cares.

Step 5: Open Well. In this scenario, you will likely communicate with each person for less than a minute. Since your opening may be your only communication, it is vitally important that your body language (your smile, stance, and gestures) complements your words and that your tone matches your body language. All three need to be saying, “We are really glad you are here!”

Step 6: Engage Your Audience. A great way to engage your guests is to call them by name if you know them or repeat their names as they introduce themselves. If time permits, get the guests involved by asking questions like, “Where are you from?” or “How long have you lived here?” Be sure to respond with something like, “Great! We’re glad you have chosen to be our guests today.” Remember, you want to create a first impression that reflects the warmth and friendliness of your church.

Step 7: Close with Action. Greeters might show guests where the guest registration part of the bulletin is or invite them to an upcoming special event. But the best “send-off” you can give them, before or after the service, is to tell them again—with body language, tone, and words—that you are glad they came. Following up with a phone call or email within forty-eight hours after their first-time visit is a very effective connection that solidifies their first impression of a warm and caring church.

Sunday school teachers are co-laborers with Christ, who decreed in Mathew 28:19-20 that His followers are to make disciples, baptize them, and then teach them His Word. An effective Sunday school teacher equips and empowers Christians, deepens their understanding of God’s Word, and helps them to live by its teachings.
I have identified Seven Steps to Effective Presentation that will help Sunday school teachers bring added value to their students and impact their lives in a greater way.
Step 1: Clarify Objectives
A Sunday school teacher’s objectives will be determined in part by the age of the students—whether young children, teens, or adults. Sunday school teachers of both young children and teens may want to build a strong, supportive relationship with each child and his or her parents and actively involve parents in their child’s spiritual development. Teen Sunday school teachers obviously want to find ways to make their class time so enjoyable and meaningful that the teens will want to come back week after week with their friends. Adult Sunday school teachers may want to think about the actions they want to happen as a result of their teaching and how those actions tie into the bigger message that is being preached and taught throughout their church.
Step 2: Define Your Audience
Defining the class by age, class size, developmental and cognitive abilities, maturity level, social pressures and influences, background and frame of reference, interests, and motivations and expectations will help Sunday school teachers know how to better plan, prepare, and deliver their lessons.
Step 3: Gather Content
If the church does not provide the curriculum, Sunday school teachers can find great curriculum at Christian bookstores or on the Internet, keeping in mind the factors discovered when they defined their audiences. We have included a great free resource section on PurposeFilledPresentations.com. Including interactive and age-appropriate activities and experiences will help Sunday school teachers effectively reach those audiences. Ministry to any age group must be grounded in sound Bible doctrine, or it loses its relevancy to the mission of the church.
Step 4: Maximize Preparation
The level of preparation demonstrates the level of respect Sunday school teachers have for their students, so it’s important to start planning lessons early in the week. If teens and adults, especially, can tell their teachers have made an investment in the preparation process, they will be more motivated to participate. Waiting until Saturday night to prepare puts undue pressure on the Sunday school teacher, stifles creativity, and does not allow adequate time to think and pray about what God wants to say.
I have designed the 3-D Outline™, which can be very effective in helping Sunday school teachers organize their thoughts and actions as they relate to their audiences, objectives, key points, and timing. It also conserves their valuable time and allows them to focus on the big picture. We have included a free template for the 3-D Outline™ in the resource section on PurposeFilledPresentations.com.
Step 5: Open Well
Meeting and greeting people as they come through the door is a great way to start for any age level. Sunday school teachers may want to open with a “teaser” that will get the students excited about what they will be doing, using a sentence, a question, or an icebreaker that foreshadows the lesson.
Step 6: Engage Your Audience
This step is critical with all ages. Toys and props make great tools for helping younger children connect with the Bible story. It’s important that Sunday school teachers look for creative ways to get teens to participate in the delivery as well as the learning, perhaps through presenting part of the lesson, reporting back on an assignment from the previous week, or journaling their devotion time for one week and then sharing with the class. Asking thought-provoking questions is a great way for Sunday school teachers to connect with both teens and adults, as well as forming discussion or discovery subgroups that report their findings back to the entire group.
Step 7: Close with Action
Sunday school teachers of young children may want to send something home with the children that will both cascade the message of the lesson to family members and remind the children of the point of the lesson each time they see it. A great closing activity for teen and adult Sunday school teachers may be to ask students what their main takeaway was from the lesson or ask them what they are going to do differently as a result of the lesson.

Whether through a church sermon or another ministry opportunity, everyone has a story to share. Everyone has a message to give. You can learn to speak with confidence, whether you are presenting a church sermon, leading a small group, or teaching a class. Remember, there are people who need to hear what you have to say. The message, however, will not get through if you find your knees are knocking louder than you are talking. Worse yet, your concern over your inability to speak with confidence while giving a church sermon may force you to shirk away from the very opportunity God brings to you and silence your story altogether.

Perhaps you are unable to present a church sermon because you are too intimidated by your own feelings of inadequacy. Maybe you even feel God is calling you to prepare for full-time ministry, but you argue, like Moses did: “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. . . O Lord, please send someone else to do it” (Exodus 4:10, 13). You think you would never be able to give a church sermon or present in front of large groups.

As I have traveled the world over and trained thousands of people how to speak with confidence, I have found the most common reason people are nervous is the fear of the unknown, not the presentation, the material, the church sermon itself, or the Bible study.

We can experience fear when we face more unknowns than knowns. When this sort of fear stems from a lack of preparation for a church sermon or other presentation, it is justifiable. Preparation for a church sermon helps you speak with confidence by taking the unknown and turning into the known. If you are well prepared, your preparation will take over once you begin, and your nervousness will begin to diminish. This is especially the case if you concentrate on the message you want to convey in your church sermon and, more specifically, the objectives you want to accomplish.