Image by: bpbpBrianPetersen 

Introduction

Today there are 3 common but powerful tools used by Christian preachers to polish up their communication skills. They are Microsoft PowerPoint, a Laptop/Desktop and a Multimedia Projector. While these could generate your expected desire, when properly used. It can also diminish the effect of your sermon, announcements if not used carefully.

So my purpose of writing this article is, to show you how to use these 3 wonderful tools to rather communicate your message instead of loosing your audience/congregation.

1.    Plan

-    The first step to make a good slide show is to plan. Realize what you want to preach/present to your congregation.

-    If designing a slideshow to aid you while giving the announcements collect some images relevant to the content. Because a picture speaks thousand words than a thousand words itself.

-    If you are presenting your slideshow through a computer, rather than the PC you used to create the slide show, make sure that your slide show is actually compatible with the PowerPoint software installed in that PC. (I don't have a laptop. So if I am invited to preach in a church and I want to put my sermon outline in their screen, I email them my PowerPoint file in advance. So that they can test it with their equipment for possible problems).

I still remember a mistake we made during an important conference. The speaker was using a "Mac Book Pro" which rejected the Windows only compatible fonts we used for the slides.

2.    Designing

-    This is the stage which demands lot of your attention and care. The design and the layout of your slides decides whether the crowd will stay with you or not.

-    Points form: Let it be sermons or announcements, always present the truths in points form. If you have sub points for each major point of your sermon outline, use a separate slide for each major point and the sub points that follow.

-    Keep it simple: Avoid complex transitional effects and animations. If animations are essential don't use very slow ones. Content that delays to arrive in the screen can frustrate your congregation.
-    Do not use an excess amount of images – Images are good to convey your message, but too much of graphics, images irrelevant to the content can cause distraction.

-    Use a graphic editor: Poor images can damage your presentation thus sabotaging your entire sermon. Therefore please use a graphic editor like Photoshop to polish up your images. Learn some basic Photoshop skills like cropping, removing backgrounds, brightening if you don't know, or get someone to do it for you. Alternatively you can use the free online version of Photo Shop if you cannot afford to buy and install a copy in your PC (requires a fast internet connection).

-    Do not use light colored texts with dark backgrounds which is tiring to the reader's eye. Use a light background with dark text instead.

-    Avoid importing images from digital cameras and inserting them into your PowerPoint slides straight away. Most of the modern digital cameras generate very high resolution images, which can slow down your presentation due to the size of the image. Use something like Photoshop to resize and reduce the weight of the image.

-    For announcements: When giving announcements, use less text and make the images proportionally bigger. People seated in the back raw might have hard time reading the text. But they can grab the message immediately with a rich and clear graphic. Consider the following slide.

-    I use no more than 5-8 words per line and no more than 5-8 lines per individual slide. Don't gum up the facts with too many words, Do you really need to have everything up on the screen? By the way do not type entire blocks of scripture in to your slides. Just give the reference.

-     Use common fonts: Complex and fancy shaped fonts makes reading difficult. Also you face a risk of layout changes if you don't have those fonts installed in the computer which the file is opened.

Sometimes in countries like Sri Lanka it is essential to use Sinhalese and Tamil fonts which are not common. In such situations make sure that you have installed the necessary fonts. (click here to learn how to install fonts in Windows XP Professional), or keep a copy of the necessary font files in a thumb drive etc. for later installation. Additionally you can embed the fonts with your presentation file, if they are not copyrighted. (click here to learn how?)

3.    Standing before the congregation

You actually come to know the degree of influence of your slide show, only when you stand before the congregation.

-    If you are using your own portable projector and a laptop make sure that you are carrying all the necessary adapters and cables to the preaching location.

-    Please recheck the presentation for spelling mistakes before you start putting it on the screen.

-    Make sure that everything is functioning as intended. I suggest arriving at the location ½ hour before, and doing a trial run.

-    If you have a laptop consider controlling the slide show your self. So you can prevent unnecessary delays and distractions.

-    If you are using a desktop: most of the projectors come equipped with a small remote controller which can be used to control the presentation. Read the manual and learn how to use it.

-    If you can't help using a third person to operate the slide show don't forget to give him a printed copy of the slides. This assures that he follows the outline properly.

Troubleshooting

Technology is a blessing when it works fine. But the same thing could be a curse if it malfunctions. While all the other conditions are met still there are minor things that could go wrong. Remember these minor problems can become huge issues only if you panic. So the first principal to follow in instant troubleshooting is, not to panic. Then,

-    Check that the power is on
-    Check that all the connections are firm
-     Some times you would have to use a special key combination to

make the projector and your PC's display to work together. In most cases the key combination is Fn + F5 or F8.

-          If you have attached the multimedia projector to a DVD player intending to show a video, make sure that you use the projector's remote controller to switch the data input into video mode.

Well I hope that you grabbed something from this article. If there is anything which is not clear please ask me in the comments section. Happy preaching!!