Thoughts from a guy who runs ProPresenter…
Posted by Ricky Merrefield | Filed under Food for Thought
I’ve been running ProPresenter for the better part of the last 7-8 months at Revolution. I figured I’d take a little time to share some thoughts on running it. I believe the grand total of the readers on my blog that run ProPresenter - or something similar - total to exactly “0″, so this post should help precisely nobody. Here we go!
- Realize what you do is important. I believe the single most important thing one can do when running ProPresenter (or something similar) is to realize the significance of what you do. It’s easy to think that what you do is insignificant, but the simple fact of the matter is that what you do enhances the worship experience of everyone in attendance. Most people don’t remember the lyrics to songs, so without you, most people wouldn’t be able to sing along. And with regard to the message, show me one study that doesn’t show that people retain more when both reading verses on the screen and hearing the pastor read them.
- Learn the songs. I don’t just mean “be familiar with the songs” or “have heard the songs at least once,” I mean “know the songs.” The better you know the songs being sung, the more effectively you can keep up with the songs. Also, you’ll have a better idea of when to display the next line - especially after solos and breaks. Nothing is more embarrassing than firing off the next line, just to realize there’s actually another four measures before the line actually begins. Oops.
- Check your grammar/spelling. This seems like a no-brainer, but I have to admit it’s something that we’ve had issues with before. In fact, I caught a grammar mistake this week for a song we’ve been using for months. I have the benefit (sometimes an annoying benefit) of having several grammar freaks at the church who are happy to point out any grammar or spelling mistakes I may have made. 99% of the mistakes made get caught and corrected before the first service begins.
- Get your timing right. This is probably the single biggest issue I had. I took pride in the fact that I could fire off the next line at exactly the right moment. It took several people pounding into my head over and over again that I was doing it wrong before I finally started doing it right. Basically, people need to see the next line before it’s actually sung. I didn’t get that. Depending on the speed of the song, I try and fire off the next line between half a second and a second before the line is sung. Ish. It actually clicked for me when I went to the Unleash conference and Newspring Church this past March. I saw how their guys were doing it, and determined that they were doing it right. It also helped when our pastor, Gary, came over and said, “See that? That’s how I want you to do it.”
- Be open to suggestions/being told what to do. This was another big one for me. I’m the expert on everything I do (and several things I don’t do), so I just knew I was doing things right. I’ve had to learn that I don’t know everything, and it’s not about me. Now, whenever Gary or Adam (our Creative Pastor) tell me to do something different, I act without question, whether I agree or not. I may raise a question or concern, but I know they have the final say.
- Do your part with excellence. It may be tempting to believe that your part isn’t important. That’s a dangerous thought to have, because the less important you think what you do is, the less likely you are to do your best. You may not be the Pastor, you may not be the worship leader, people may never know who you are, but that makes no difference. The simple fact is that every little part of what goes on in a service is important. Every little thing contributes to the impression that people have of Christians - and ulitmately - Christ. I can honestly say that I’ve visited churches where their screens were run poorly, and it gave me a bad impression of the place. There are honest mistakes that are unavoidable, but there is no excuse for poor performance as a result of apathy.
- Be creative in ways to improve yourself. Not much to say here but to give an example. Revolution has a mid-week band practice, and I’ve been going the past couple months. This allows me to make sure the lyrics are right in ProPresenter, and allows me to be more familiar with the arrangements they use that week. This is one less thing I have to do Sunday morning, so I can focus on other things. Also, I moved from sitting down to standing up while running ProPresenter. This has two advantages: It’s easier for me to get into the music and the worship experience, and it’s easier to see the stage for visual cues (i.e., the worship leader moving back to the mic to sing). These may not help you or be practical for you, but the point is to always be looking for ways to improve.
That’s about all I have. I hope that all none of you found this helpful =)
July 7th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
[...] Check it out here. [...]
July 7th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Good stuff. I oversee a small crew of volunteers who run EasyWorship and it’s rare to see someone like you who “gets it” when it comes to operating presentation software.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
We run ProPresenter at Fellowship Memphis.
Really appreciated your post. I am passing this on to all our video volunteers.
- john
July 7th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
DUDE - this is spot on. Love the part about WHEN to fire the slides. It took us FOREVER to get that right. Now when it doesnt happen I freak out.
Also the misspellings grammar errors. I thought we had that down. This week in a new song everyone missed one that was so obvious. It looks very unprofessional like you dont even care if you cant get simple words right. One time we had the word SIN for the word SING. Got to get those RIGHT.
Love it - love it. We are switching from easy worship to pro-presenter soon.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Hi Rick,
Great takes presentation software and the teanm responsible. On the track to perfection, I often beat myself up for a missed transition, however, the typical eye in the congregation never noticed it.
I find your comment interesting about the timing of the slides; I have to remind the Praise Team that the words are more for the audience and truly only a crutch for them - after all that is what practice is for.
At Liberty Heights (West Chester, OH), we use MediaShout with graphics built using Digital Juice. One of the visual cues I ask of our singers, is to demonstrabley (at least to me) raise the mic to their chin - then they get the words.
Two questions: 1) How do you signal to parents in the congregation that their “assistance” is needed in the nursery?
2) Do you guys offer ear plugs to folks who say that the music is too loud for their sensitive ears? I am really tempted to tell them to hang around for the pastor’s message, and that ear plugs will help them get there.
Be Blessed,
Dan Mayer
July 8th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Yay! This IS awesome. I run ProPresenter at my church and often have questions about it. I had begun to think that I was the only one using it, when, apparently, I’m just the only one who reads my blog to answer said questions.
I do the song lyrics and also the sermon notes in ProPresenter as well as any video clips, audio clips or sound effects. I’m still in the exploring stages of learning the capabilities of the program, but it is awesome. The tutorial on Renewed Vision’s website helped me a lot.
The only things that trip me up much now are when the band / leader changes (read: can’t remember) the words or when they decide to do verse 2 again without warning me or doing a lead in. Then I look like an ape having the chorus up.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:05 am
[...] Thoughts from a guy who runs ProPresenter. Check it. [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 6:08 am
This is spot-on. Thanks for posting this.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:12 am
[...] This post is by a fella who runs ProPresenter (what we call “CG”) at Revolution Church. If you’re on NewSpring’s production team, I highly recommend reading this. I love his grasp of what’s really important and his attitude. [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 6:28 am
[...] Ricky Merrefield wrote a very insightful post on his blog about how to run presentation software. He is specifically talking about ProPresenter, but his insights are universal. Here are his thoughts: [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 7:06 am
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July 8th, 2008 at 9:17 am
[...] http://rickymerrefield.com/food-for-thought/thoughts-from-a-guy-who-runs-propresenter/ [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 10:11 am
[...] from a guy who runs ProPresenter… This post is by a fella who runs ProPresenter at Revolution Church. I highly recommend reading this. I love [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Thanks for a great post! It’s great when small deserving blogs get credit where credit is due. I just did a media training seminar and we talked about some of these issues. You have shed A LOT of light on the subject.
I now have your site on my google reader. Blessings!
July 8th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
This is a great post. I run ProPresenter at Believer’s Church in Johnson City, TN. We have used ProPresenter for a few months now and I love it. Those were some great points to ponder. Especially the “Know the Songs”. Our worship pastor sends new songs to all of the production team so we can learn them along with the band. My pastor sent me a link to this blog and I’m glad he did. Running the media at our church has helped me to be better focused on the service. I have a slight (a lot) touch of ADD so doing things to occupy me helps me to focus. Thanks for the blog.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
[...] ricky.merrefield » Blog Archive » Thoughts from a guy who runs ProPresenter… (tags: church video presentation) [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I hate to be the first person to rise to your challenge: “Show me one study that doesn’t show that people retain more when both reading verses on the screen and hearing the pastor read them.” This issue was researched at the University of NSW in Australia and the study concluded that people retain LESS information when they see the words at the same time as someone reads them out loud, because it creates too great a cognitive load. People retain and understand a Bible passage much better if you do not display the words to them while they are being read. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/03/1175366240499.html
July 9th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Who really cares about studies? The fact is that people’s lives are getting changed and people are getting saved every service. It’s crazy to believe that being someone who puts lyrics and Bible verses on the screen can change a life but it’s true and it’s a wonderful thing. We should stop focusing on “studies” and other things and see what’s really important. God is working and lost people are getting saved and if geeks like myself pushing a button to put words up on the screen can help someone better understand then that’s what it’s all about. Yay God!!!
July 9th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I can totally relate to all of this as well. I think the point I like the best is do your part with excellence. I am a perfectionist. I think this point has extreme merit. I’ve lost so many volunteers because they thought I was being too picky. I’ve prayed and prayed over this. Am I giving my volunteers enough ownership over the ministry?
But ultimately, this just wasn’t the ministry for them. I freak out at things that don’t go right, because the fact of the matter is, someone noticed. Not everyone; but someone. One is enough. I’m blessed to have volunteers who get it. But I’ve had more people leave than stay, because they just didn’t get the excellence over apathy point.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:56 am
This is good stuff. I have run Pro Presenter for the better part of the last 5 years. It has improved a million times over in taht span. I agree with everything you said here.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:37 am
This is such a good article, I’m going to start making this a required reading for all our Pro guys/gals.
Thank you!
July 10th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Great Post…I plan on getting all my team to read this. We have using ProPresentor for 2 years at Midtown Fellowship and love it.
July 11th, 2008 at 6:57 am
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July 11th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
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July 12th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Ricky,
Great article, practical, and just good stuff. One of our tech directors down here at St. Simons Community Church (St. Simons Island, GA) found your article and forwarded it to all of us, as we use PP and PVP. I am the Publisher/Founder of TheWorshipCommunity.Com and thought this would be a good article to republish over there for our readers. Are you interested in allowing us that privilege? We’d love to have you contribute some more for the site … always looking for people in the trenches who are getting it done, and can write about it.
TheWorshipCommunity.Com (TWC) is a grass-roots community of worship leaders, artists, singers, musicians, and technicians from all over the world.One of the things that sets TheWorshipCommunity.Com apart is the grass-roots nature of the content. Our articles are written by contributors all over the world who are “in the trenches” …. leading worship in small, medium, and large churches. We combine exclusive content with re-published articles from what we discover as “the best of” from worship and ministry-related blogs, discussion forums, and resources.
I just added you to my twitter follow list … hope to hear back from you. Followed Gary’s blog for quite some time.
For the Kingdom,
Fred McKinnon
July 14th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
[...] -2. really cool article from ricky merrefield who does pro presenter (mediashout for mac x10) at revolution church. he offers really cool insight, even though it’s seen as a small job, it’s one of the most important on the production side of things. read it here. [...]
August 18th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
[...] Do everything to you do with excellence. It is all important. [...]