Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Mini Messages

Mini messages are "mini" because they are short and to the point. They allow you to communicate a lot even when you say a little. This particular post will prove beneficial for churches and small groups. However, I think some parachurches and faith-based nonprofits could incorporate some of these techniques to enhance and even expand current communications.

  • Sentence Sermons: Use a single sentence to provide a stirring message. For example: God puts more on you to get more out of you. Such a statement gets people thinking and stirs up interest. Let your sentence sermons connect to your preaching series or a church-wide campaign. If people don't get the full message, you have at least prompted them with your sentence sermon.
  • Text Messages: You can say a lot in 120 characters or less. Tailor your mass SMS text messages to specific audiences. Use appropriate abbreviations. For example: Sunday's sermon comes from Jn 15:8-17 Pastor J. GoodNews. It is short and to the point. You can set up specific audiences in programs such as http://tatango.com/ or http://www.eztexting.com/. Even www.skype.com and other services have a texting component. If it is for your small group, you can text up to 10 people on most smartphones and forward the original text to others after it has been sent.
  • Status Updates: With all of social networking's capabilities, use your status updates so that friends can get the message. For example: Preparing for Sunday's message on fruitfulness and faith for friends from John 15:8-17. Keep me in prayer. Friends can comment on your status on Facebook, MySpace and other interactive sites.
  • Twitter Posts: Tweet short messages that 140 characters or less on Twitter as well as LinkedIn. This will get your message before your numerous "followers." Think of using your sentence sermon or text message as a tweet. You want to communicate the same message across a wide variety of mediums.

In essence, you want to give a clear and concise message that leads to greater participation from your congregation or small group members. Let them have more information so that they can remain informed. Remember, the root word of information is inform.

No comments:

Post a Comment