What does the local church need to do TODAY to communicate effectively?

The

Communications

Connection

1

YouTube video:

“The Power of Words”

— Produced by Purplefeather

EMBED: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

2

Discuss:

• What stands out for you in this

video?

• What communication tools are

used?

3

What does the local church

need to do TODAY

to communicate effectively?

•

What message do you want to send?

•

Who is your audience?

•

Is your message relevant, worth

sharing?

•

What media will you use?

4

Message

:

•

Call people to action:

Come. Pray. Give.

Volunteer. Love. Sign up. Grow in faith.

•

Create and maintain interest in your

church.

•

Advertise your church.

•

Promote special programs such as

Christmas and Easter.

•

Build connections within the faith family.

5

Audience:

•

The more local your message, the more

it is noticed.

•

One size does not fit all. 30% do not

have Internet at home... 81% read a

weekly newspaper… Some DSL, some

dial-up!

•

Younger generations expect

professionalism in appearance and

content of any media.

•

Design your message for busy people!

6

Relevance

•

Is this worth passing on to

others?

•

“Knowing your target audience

will focus your communications

on those who will value

and use” your information.

— Sally Little

7

8

Media

We are one in Christ, but today it takes multiple tools of communication to make an impact for Christ: Print, Web, email, video, verbal, in-person…

“Should we use this/that,

print/digital?”

The answer is always

“YES!”

Discuss:

• Tell about a time your church

communicated effectively.

• How did you know the communication

was successful?

• What communication tools were used?

10

Web resource tools

available through

the Oklahoma Conference

11

www.okumc.org

•

On this site:

–

You will find useful tools to help your

church in ministry

–

Information about The United

Methodist Church in Oklahoma

Two

components

of the

OKUMC

site —

1. The Web hub for the

Conference

• The Web portion of the site is maintained by the Communications Department

• You will find information on all the

Conference ministry areas

• Information about the Conference staff

and how to contact them

14

2. The Administration

features of the site

•Maintained by the Oklahoma

Conference Administration office

•Record-keeping (BrickRiver)

–

Database, officers, and church

dashboard

–

Clergy email system

15

Use the site to update your

local church dashboard:

• Allows the Conference to communicate

news and events to your leaders – Classifieds

– Ministry job opportunities

– YOUR local church page on the OKUMC site

• Basic information for your church to have

a Web presence

• Every church has been issued a user

name and password to access that

church’s information ₁₆

Tools

on the OKUMC site:

1. Calendars

• Lists events and meeting dates for

Conference agencies and committees • Also District and Local Church Calendars

2. Media Library

• An online catalog of video and DVD

curriculum resources available for loan to local churches for use in Sunday school, UMW studies, or other settings

17

To access the Media Library:

Resource check-out is free

for local churches.

19

Make your choices online or browse the library, located in the United Methodist Ministry Center in Oklahoma City. Make your choices online or browse the library, located in the United Methodist Ministry Center in Oklahoma City. 20

newspaper online

– Read the Conference news — usually available one week before the printed version is out.

• News Stories

– The news archives list all the articles

from the Contact newspaper and are available for reprint in your local church newsletter.

• RSS Contact Syndication

• Digest

– Receive the Contact by email — FREE

3.

4. Publications section

•

Journals

–

Official annual record of our

Conference, in PDF format

•

Apportionment information

–

Guidebook online,

with interactive videos

–

Handout

:

NEW Apportionment DVD

23

5. People locator

•

Find Clergy

– Clergy Directory with basic information about each pastor in the Oklahoma Conference

•

Find Churches

– Church Directory with address and phone/ email information for each church in the Conference

24

Discuss:

• What resources at

www.okumc.org

have

you learned about today?

25

Communicating by video

26

Live streaming

One way we use “live streaming” in Oklahoma is during the Annual Conference. This important meeting can be watched online as it happens.

The viewer needs

to have a high-speed Internet connection.

Requirements:

1. Video camera — connected to computer 2. Internet connection

3. Computer

4. Free software for

broadcasting 28

OKVideo

• Share videos from your church’s

activities with other United Methodists

by uploading them to OKVideo.

• Use brief videos from the Annual

Conference to inform your congregation

and promote support for specific

ministries of Oklahoma United

Methodists.

29

OKVideo homepage:

30

Video: “Do-it-yourself”

Make your message simple

Produced by Oklahoma Conference Deptartment of Communications 31

“Do It Yourself” Video Tips

•

Choose your local church ministry to

be lifted up and shared

•

Create the storyboard (see template

handout)

•

Shoot scenes with the story from

beginning to end in mind

•

Don’t use published works of music

unless you have the copyright

•

Upload your finished product to

OKVideo/YouTube.

32

Make the connection

on your mobile device

33

•

Using your smartphone, go to

www.OKUMC.org and the site will

recognize your mobile device and

format some of our features for

your device: top news, calendar,

and church/clergy locators.

•

There’s an APP for the

denomination, too!

34

Online social networking:

FACEBOOK

35

Video

:

“5 Steps to Grow Your

Facebook Congregation”

Produced by UMCOM (United Methodist Communications, the denomination’s agency for media ministry)

http://www.youtube.com/user/ MyComTips#p/u/3/CnGGJMsj8u4

Become a fan of “Oklahoma United

Methodist Communications”

Become

a fan!

Communicating

in PRINT

Handout

:

“Tips to make your church

newsletter more effective”

38

•

Print gives legitimacy to your

message. People report a higher level

of trust with print than other media.

•

Print has a longer shelf-life; the

message sticks a little longer.

•

Print can lead the reader to more info

on the Web.

– Print part of on online item to

point readers to the rest of it online. You just need to catch their attention.

39

Your church officers and clergy receive

the Contact through

Conference-paid subscriptions. Be sure their addresses are entered and up-to-date in the BrickRiver database. 40

Communicating in CRISIS

Definition of a Crisis

“A situation that puts your

organization’s values on

trial in the court of public

opinion”

- William N. Curry, Public Relations Society of America

42

Crisis, Disaster,

Controversy

•

Crisis is different than disaster

•

A controversy can become a

crisis

•

A crisis may start small…..

and grow….

Handout

:

“Crisis

Communication

Plan”

Discuss:

• Do you recall a time your church or other

group faced a crisis? How did you respond?

• What should the local church do?

• What does the spokesperson need to know?

• Does your church have a media policy?

Annual Conference Crisis Management Team

– Bishop

– Director of Communications

– Director of Connectional Ministries

– Conference Treasurer – Dean of Cabinet – District Superintendents

• related to the affected church(es)

46

Use our online class to prepare your local church team for communicating in a crisis.

47

Observe copyright law

48

Does your church post videos

on YouTube? Is the

background music you use

copyrighted?

Handout

:

“Performance

rights blind spots”

49

50

51

Make the connection,

because…

1.

Message

2.

Audience

3.

Relevance

4.

Media

Thank you for

participating today.

The Oklahoma Conference Department of Communications

12/2011

Other sources: UMCOM, www.purplefeather.com

Need help? Contact the Department of Communications, 405-530-2075, jharris@okumc.org