So you’re just about ready to go back into the church building for Sunday services, but you’re also planning to continue streaming online via YouTube, Facebook or church online platform too … and you want to communicate to all your audiences.
Does this mean you need two separate hosting spots—one for people in the room, and one for the online audience?
And what about your church podcast? Does that mean three hosting spots or message intros?
You want to speak directly to the people in the room, but you a realize that more people will ultimately watch or listen to the message online. So, if you say; “We’re so glad you are here with us today”, then you have left out the online and podcast audience. If you only address the online audience, then the people in the room feel left out.
It’s enough to make you want to scream!
But there is a simple solution. You can address your in-person and online audiences in a single sentence.
So, here’s the solution that we’ve been using at North Point for more than two years that addresses all of your audiences. And this can be used by a host at the start of the service, or at the top of the message by the speaker.
“Hey everyone! We are so glad you’re part of our church today!”
There it is. Simple. It covers everyone … and reminds people that Church is not somewhere you go, but it’s something you do.
And, as a bonus, there’s one more simple sentence you can use to deepen the connection with ALL your audiences.
“Whether you’re watching LIVE online, on social media, or here in the room … listening during the week on our podcast or watching a month from now on YouTube, we’re so glad you’re with us!”
A sentence like this not only speaks to every audience, but it also promotes your church social media platforms, podcast and YouTube channel. That’s a win-win!
And here’s a BONUS TIP.
When the service is over, don’t say; “Thanks for being here. We’ll see you next week.”
This sentence, again, only addresses the in-person audience, and sends a message that your church only cares about physical attendance. It communicates; “We’re glad you’re here, and we have no plans to engage with you during the week, because we’ll see you next Sunday.”
Instead, try this: “We’re so glad you were part of our church today, we’ll see you during the week on social media.”
This communicates that you’re not just interested in connecting with people for one hour on Sunday, but you want to stay connected for the other 167 hours of the week online.
Try these ideas at your church, and let me know how it goes!