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.

Written by Carrie

October 20, 2009

Purpose-Filled Presentations is subtitled, “How any Christian Can Communicate More Effectively to Anybody, Anytime, Anywhere.” Although I do agree that it is written primarily to Christians, it can be utilized by people of any faith because the advice and practical types for public speakers, as well as personal communications, are very practical. Author Tony Jeary apparently brands himself “Mr. Presentation” and expresses a desire to teach church goers how to communicate with one another.

From the back cover:

“Your presentation may be informal and momentary — like greeting people at the door — or formal and momentous — like sharing your testimony before a congregation. But either way, it will make an impact.”

That is very true. Our first impressions, and longer lasting impressions, of people do matter. What I say and what I do will have an impact in the way that you think about me. (What I write in this post will leave an impression and while I hope it’s a good one I’m well aware of the fact that my English skills are frequently lacking and mistakes likely go unchecked with some regularity which no doubt drives some of you crazy!) Learning how to address people well is an essential skill for humans, not just church-goers.

Jeary introduces you to seven steps for effective presentations. He gives you techniques for speeches, if you are to address a gathering. He talks to you about appearing more natural before your audience and about speaking clearly and succinctly in order to effectively hold your audience’s attention. He lays things out in this book in a very practical way, giving examples and objectives as he goes.

If you have a young public speaker on your hands, you might want to offer them this book. If you are nervous when speaking to others, this book might help you move past that. Really though, if you are human and want to learn how to communicate more effectively, then this book could be the practical tool you need to help you do that. (If you don’t fit into any of those categories – even the human one – I’m sure you can think of someone you know with poor communication habits that you think could really use this book, right? I can think about half a dozen . . .)

Purpose-Filled Presentations meets a need and serves its purpose well, teaching us how to make an impact with the people who mean the most to us – the ones right in front of our faces on a daily basis. You cannot get any more practical than that!

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know and Reading My Library.

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Filed under Carrie, Non-Fiction by Carrie