Communications

There’s plenty of discussion about stock photography.  Love it or hate it, searching for the right pictures and spending money for them is a part of most designers’ lives.  Whether we’re amateurs or pros in putting together pieces for our communication materials, we need to think about why we’re using stock images. 

This post isn’t about saying “yes” or “no” to using stock photography.  Instead we want to help you think through why you’re using stock stuff and when you might want to avoid...

When was the last time you went to a major venue or mainstream restaurant and Coke or Pepsi wasn’t on the menu?  Better yet, do you recall a time where  the drink of choice was RC, Dr. Pepper or 7-UP? 

Welcome to the new reality for Chicago Bears fans the next time they venture into Soldier Field.  The Bears just signed a seven-year deal that makes products from the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group the official soda and juices of the Bears. 

What makes this news interesting—besides the fact that...

It’s not always easy to put best practices into action.  Whether it’s something you’ve read or a conference you’ve attended, finding best practice tips are easy.  Yet putting them into action is trickier mainly because most change doesn’t happen overnight. And for many churches, the communications person is seemingly on their own with an overflowing list of tasks for which they are responsible. 

As someone who’s always working towards improving, and doling out advice that I can’t always...

As churches I think we often forget to explain the why.  We’re better at covering who, what, when and how, but for some reason why gets left out.

Yet why can be one of the best friends you have in storytelling.  It helps us get to those issues of the heart. It exposes the reason behind the work we’re doing.  Why helps stir emotion and when someone is moved, they’re more likely to take action or feel better connected to whatever it is you’re doing.

A visitor friendly church talks about the...

Churches can be great at putting together an amazing worship experience for Easter, but not so good at doing follow-up the next week.  We all know the importance of Easter—along with the opportunity and openness to reach new people in our community. 

It’s not uncommon to ramp it up for Easter and then take the next week off.  However, it’s that following week where we have just as much opportunity to make an impression on someone new.  It’s also our chance to show how the church helps...

When you combine people seeking for a church at Easter with the power of your members sharing your church, this time of year can have a great impact for your congregation and God’s Kingdom.  We all know the stats.  Easter is a time of year when people are more receptive to going to church.  And we also know the number one way people find a church is through a personal invite.  So as Easter is quickly approaching, it’s time to make sure you’re equipping your members with ways to share your...

The Barna Group did some interesting research in asking pastors how they wanted to improve their churches.  They were given a list of 12 priorities like building improvements, upgrading technology, learning community demographics, making the building safer and clarifying their mission.  Then they were asked to prioritize them.  The number one thing pastors wanted, regardless of church size, was to assess their mission and vision. 

Barna President David Kinnaman explained it this way, “Like...

My wife noticed it right away.  There it sat.  Right near the front door of a church we visited.  A bright yellow brochure with the big heading “Just Try It” positioned above…the trademarked Nike logo.  Like a scene from a church-communications action film where a bomb was armed to blow, we looked at each other wide-eyed, mouths open as we shook our heads in slow motion—all the while silently yelling, “Noooooo!”

Okay, it wasn’t that dramatic.  Our reaction was probably more of just subdued...

One of the biggest keys to good communication is an understanding of who’s on the receiving end of what you’re saying.  In the church world, we may feel in touch with the needs of our congregations.  Even if we are not communicating the best that we can, we at least understand who we’re talking to; we know our people.  The bigger challenge, though, comes in trying to say something valuable to the people who aren’t inside the walls of our church.  Life outside of the church, or Christianity as...

At the beginning of every flight, the crew takes a few minutes to give safety instructions. For most of us, it’s a throw away moment. We’ve flown enough that we already know how to buckle those tricky airplane safety belts and understand that our seat will float if the plane goes crashing into the sea.  So we simply tune out, or enjoy those last few precious moments with our electronic devices.

That changed for me on a recent American Airlines flight.  They’ve produced a new safety...